Diclaiya
by Bluemew22
Summary: As Planet Vegeta falls prey to Frieza's paranoid wrath, a single Saiyan is entrusted with Goku's life and sent after him by Gine and Bardock. A Diclonius, meanwhile, has escaped from the Vector Research Facility. When they meet, what could this unlikely duo's alliance spell for the world? Rating may rise due DB fight violence or sheer EL gore.
1. Aberrant Origins

_**A/N: Disclaimer: the following is a non-profit fan-based fiction. Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT are all owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, and Akira Toriyama. Elfen Lied is owned by Lynn Okamoto, Shueisha, Studio Arms, AT-X, ADV Films, and Madman Entertainment. Please support the official release.**_

 _ **All I dare claim ownership towards is this fic itself, and the OCs held within: the human Yulina, the Saiyan Scarza, Diclonious Subject #Five-Six-Two, aka Kimeka and the half-Saiyan Diclonius Lillith, aka Ramea.**_

 _ **Also, I did read Dragon Ball Minus before writing this. I opted to use a variant on 'Bardock: The Father of Goku' because there are less plotholes, which I will point out in the footnotes. Short version is, having Gine is nice, but the storyline presented doesn't quite mesh with what was established at the very beginning.**_

* * *

 **Chapter One: Aberrant Origins**

=Planet Earth, May 2, Age 730=

"Security Breach in Sector Three! Personnel Unresponsive! Security Breach in Sector Three! Personnel Unresponsive!" an automated alarm rang out in the Saseba Vector Research Facility as a steel door crumbled and folded, seemingly of its own accord. Several armed guards took positions on both sides of the corridor, leveling rifles and handguns loaded with Teflon-coated tungsten bullets at the pink haired, naked girl running through with tears in her eyes.

"Please help! There was an accident in the test room and a researcher got hurt!" She pleaded with the armed men, though for a few moments, none dared move toward her. "Please help!"

Then a lead guard called out from the back. "Stand down, men, this Diclonius is safe. It's only Number Five-Six-Two. She's never once turned her vectors on humans, provoked or otherwise." She continued as she walked towards the concerned girl and draped a too-large jacket over her. "The little sweetheart even volunteers to help with our research on vectors now and then. Go get someone from the infirmary and join us inside. That's an order!" She then knelt down to speak with the girl at her own level in a motherly tone. "Okay, Five-Six-Two, I'll need you to just calm down and explain while we go back inside and help out, okay?"

"…Okay Ms. Larenai…" the girl sniffled and led guard captain Larenai back inside; holding hands for comfort and security. "I'm sorry about the door… I got scared the angry guards would think I did it on purpose and hurt me…"

"I understand completely. We can fix the door later, but people are a little harder." The guard captain smiled and took the jacket back off the girl once they were inside. "Go ahead and put your clothes back on, Five-Six-Two. We only make you take them off so we can see more clearly what your muscles do when you use your vectors in the test. I have a feeling you're done at least for the day."

"Thank you Ms. Larenai. The researcher is over there," the little Diclonius pointed to the limp form of a man in a labcoat. He was bleeding from the mouth and a twenty-pound cannonball rested on the floor next to him. "It… it hit him in the belly… is he okay?"

Capt. Larenai checked the scientist's pulse and found none. "He'll live, but he'll be out for a while. We'll probably have to reassign him to a desk job upstairs, Kim—er, Five-Six-Two." She lied to the girl's face, unable to bring herself to ruin the child's innocence before knowing the details; berating herself silently for almost breaking protocol and stripping the girl's anonymity from the recording. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Uh-huh," the girl replied, drying her final tears away on the sleeve of the little blue dress she now wore. "We were testing how resilient my vectors were with a game of catch again… but when we got to that heavy one I had to use all four and…" here she pointed to a puddle on the floor "…I must have slipped on the sweat from earlier in the game, because I started spinning and the ball went around and then he was-yelling-at-me-tostopsoIletgoand-" the guard had to muzzle the girl with her hand.

"Calm down. It's okay, but nobody can understand you when you talk that fast, sweetie." She then took her hand off the child's face. "Now, what happened after you slipped and started spinning?"

The horned child took a deep breath to calm herself once more and restarted. "He started yelling really loud to stop, so I let go of the ball and the next thing I knew there was a big banging noise and he was on the floor… I couldn't figure out what the buttons on his desk do so I just opened the door to go get help."

Captain Larenai shook her head and pulled the still very upset child into a close hug. "You panicked, but still did the right thing, Five-Six-Two. You went to find help. Next time shout out why you're destroying the door so the system alarm can be cancelled by security staff, okay?" While she said this, she was actually listening on an earpiece while security personnel confirmed the girl's story against audio from the test room.

"It checks out, Captain. This was just an accident of timing," An official-sounding voice confirmed. "You can put away the incapacitator now."

' _You say that as if I even took one out for Kimeka. She's a klutz, not a killer.'_ She thought to herself. While this was Number Five-Six-Two's, or rather Kimeka's, first fatality, it was far from her first destructive slip-up during a test. Hell, it wasn't even her fifteenth. "All taken care of, Five-Six-Two, you're not in any trouble. Let's get you back to your room and I'll get you something sweet for being such a good girl and getting help for a hurt researcher." The girl nodded agreement and followed the trusted adult out of the lab and back to the Diclonius Habitation Area.

The girl looked up at her escort about halfway there, once they couldn't be heard by the lab's recording anymore. "Um… Ms. Larenai?" She asked, "The new girl across the hall from my room was crying last night… when I asked why, she said she missed her 'mommy' and 'daddy'. What are those? Did she have some friends like you before coming to the lab?"

As innocent as the young girl's question was, it still caught the kind guardswoman so off-guard as to stop her mid-stride. Having no idea what parents even were was something she expected of Kimeka. But the child was very smart for her age, so that didn't lessen the meaning of the follow-up question when context clues would have at least told her parents were very precious to those that had them. "N-not exactly, Kimeka… " Taking everything into account, the girl had basically just claimed Larenai as a mother-figure, and upon reviewing her interactions with the Diclonius, it would be more disturbing if she hadn't once learning such things exist. "A 'mommy' and 'daddy' are two people called 'parents' when referring to both. They're… the two people that brought your neighbor into the world."

The girl looked thoughtful on this all the remaining way to her room, before asking another question just as they opened the door, "…does everyone have 'parents', Ms. Larenai? Even me?"

It took an iron will and a heart of stone to look at this girl's face and tell the girl that her parents existed and just had to be too busy to visit, as Capt. Larenai was instructed she should in the event of this happening when assigned as Five-Six-Two's personal escort. The woman lacked both after getting to know the child over the years and admittedly had started to see her as a niece, if not daughter. "No, Kimeka… you did, but I'm afraid they're both dead." The girl's immediately deflating mood spurred her keeper to continue on, giving the girl a sweet piece of candy. "Your parents loved you dearly, Kimeka, but they couldn't care for you. The arrangement was made for you to come here shortly after being born, because the alternative was a life of continual pain and they wanted none of that for you. Here in Saseba, you were fed, healthy, and relatively safe. I requested the director give me the contact information for your parents when we became friends, so I might learn a bit more about you. I only really needed to know if you had any food allergies for these special treats but instead, he showed me their obituaries."

"Their whatth?" Kimeka asked around the chocolate jawbreaker Larenai had given her. Thankful she wound up with someone so happy to answer her curiosity rather than a bully like some of the other horned girls in the facility.

"…A short story about their lives written for people that died." The grown-up clarified. "Your mother got sick and couldn't afford medicine… and your father worked himself to death taking care of her and trying to make the money doing any work he could… I'm sorry you'll never get to meet them." Once more the two hugged, bringing warmth and comfort to the little girl. "I don't know about your friend's parents, but at least you know about yours now." Already struggling not to make a completely career-ending emotional decision, Larenai looked down. At that same moment Kimeka looked up at Larenai with those big shining crimson orbs and sealed the decision with a single, honest question that totally destroyed what little resistance the guardswoman had left.

"…Ms. Larenai? Would you mind if I called you 'mommy' from now on? Your description of one sounds a lot like how you treat me…"

Larenai couldn't believe it was happening, but it was. To Hell with what they told her in the briefings when she took this job, this was no monster; no mutant capable of destroying humanity. What she held in her arms at this moment was a two year old girl in the body of a seven-year-old that had never once even known a mother's loving touch. A girl whose idea of playing catch was having cannons fired at her. "…Only when we're alone like this, Kimeka," She gave the girl a soft kiss on the forehead and tucked her into her bed. "We'll both get in trouble if the security staff hears that… or that we'll be leaving soon."

"Leaving? Why?" The girl asked, eyelids growing heavy as her new mother-figure hummed a lullaby from her own childhood.

"Because I can take care of you at my home, so there's no reason for you to stay here any longer. Now go to sleep; I'll be here to pick you up tomorrow." She smoothed the girl's bangs back away from her eyes as she drifted off to dreamland, revealing the once barely-hidden horns growing from her skull. "Amazing how one little difference can cause so much suffering to a child… peeking out of her hair like this they almost look like kitty cat ears."

Larenai then cleared her radio mic and spoke to the main personnel in charge of security, forcing professionalism back into her tone. "Base, this is Captain Sarah T. Larenai, Number Five-Six-Two was showing signs of emotional trauma after her accident earlier, and I've managed to calm her to sleep. If my child psychology minor is worth the ink used to print it on my degree, there's a very strong chance she'll have a night terror if I leave her living quarters. Requesting permission to remain overnight with Number Five-Six-Two and monitor her condition, on the basis of safety for the entire facility staff. This diclonius' vectors caught a twenty pound cannon shot. I've determined further through conversation with Five-Six-Two that the accident was also a consequence of the momentum generated from the ammunition's mass, in addition to poor timing of the order to release it. Further, if she were to have an instance of mental-emotional breakdown in my absence, this level of relaxed vector durability would make her nigh on unstoppable if provoked into a panic and/or enraged state. My presence appears to calm and comfort Five-Six-Two, making such an event highly improbable."

"You left your mic on again, Sarah," was the reply. "Please be more careful in the future. One of these days it's not going to be me alone on the other end when you are overcome by your affection for Kimeka."

Larenai looked at her handset and sighed. "One of these days one of the higher-ups will have the 'broken off button' radio. Maybe then they'll fix the damn things. Thanks for being cool about this Russell."

"Don't mention it. Ever, it'll be all three of our necks. You don't need to tell me your plans either." Russell then alerted Larenai to the presence of their superiors on his end with the sound of his chair rolling back. "Anything else before I pass that request up the chain of command?"

"…Yeah, you got this week's lotto numbers?" The compassionate guard asked, hoping the code wasn't nearly as transparent as it seemed.

"Not with me, I'll look them up as soon as I'm done with the bosses, hang tight." And at that Russell fell silent for a good ten minutes before continuing. "Okay, luckily they only wanted to know why you weren't leaving the room yet. They agreed it was in the facility's best interest to keep a Diclonius with those kinds of defenses comfortable." Followed by a fluttering of newsprint indicating the bosses were still in the room. "You're good for overnight watch of Five-Six-Two's condition. Oh, and those numbers you asked for are: forty-two, twenty-three, sixteen, fifteen, eight, four. Any matches?"

"Nope, did you expect any kickbacks from reading them?" She asked back.

"Nah, I prefer to pay it forward. Oh, and the access codes to the doors are going to be scrambled again at zero-three-hundred hours. Lockdown of the habitat area will commence in five minutes. Have fun sleeping with a specimen, Larenai. I for one am heading home after the scramble."

Larenai then made triple sure her mic was disabled by disconnecting the wire from her handset, and climbed into bed to decode about Russell's code talking. "…He's fixed it so the code to the nearest exit will have those lotto numbers arranged differently… let's see…" and she began unraveling the message hidden in the small talk.

Having worked behind that desk for a few years herself, Larenai knew the cameras actually stopped recording at three AM as well, for a period of five minutes as the recordings were transferred to long-term storage and their short-term drives were emptied. So when that time came, she silently got out of the bed and carried a sleeping Diclonius away, to the exit door, where her first three guesses to the passcode were fails. "Okay, only enough time for one more try… why couldn't Russell have just left them in… order… The numeric speech was a freaking diversion." And sure enough, trying the lottery numbers in the order she heard them the first time was the correct set. The door opened and Kimeka was whisked away to a new life by her new mommy.

* * *

=May 9, Age 730=

"Kimeka, honey… Wake up." Larenai shook the little girl awake. "Sweetie, the facility found us. I'll keep them busy in front while you sneak out the back window."

"Wha…? Keep who busy, mommy?" The girl asked groggily, her ears still refusing to work properly through the fog of dreams.

A loud banging came from her bedroom door, followed by a male voice, "We know that thing's in there with you, Sarah. Give it up and you might yet have a job."

"Dammit, Kimeka we don't have time for this!" Larenai splashed a glass of ice water on the Diclonius's face, waking her up far more quickly. "Just take the emergency bag and go!"

"But… I can't leave you, mommy… I just got to start calling you that…" Kimeka started to cry, as her second mother, the first she ever knew, lifted her bodily out the window and out of the house.

The ex-guard was crying too now, "Don't cry sweetie… no matter what they do, you'll always have a piece of me with you in your heart… now go!" But the stubbornness of adolescence had begun to set in for the young girl, and she just wouldn't leave.

Too short still to climb back into the room, Kimeka could do nothing but watch as the men that had guns leveled at her no more than a week earlier now had them trained on Larenai… and as they fired as one. "…mommy…no…" a distinct numbness fell over the young girl… followed by a new feeling: anger.

' _There is only one path left for you, child… they took your mother from you…'_ A voice whispered from seemingly nowhere. ' _It's only right you take something of theirs in exchange…_ _Kill them all_ _before they decide to train their guns on you! Each has stolen a portion of your mother's life! You must retrieve it by claiming all of theirs.'_

"B-but, mommy said not hurting the humans was a good thing…"

' _That was before they_ _took her_ _away from you! Do it now! Thrust your vectors through their chests and SHOW THEM THEIR STILL-BEATING BLACK HEARTS!_ '

"Please just leave me alone… I don't want to hurt anyone…" Kimeka cried to herself and turned away from the window, curling into the fetal position.

' _Tough luck, child… if you won't do it, then allow me… hehehe…'_

For the young girl, it was only a matter of seconds. She had looked away…"W-what did you…?!" …and found the entire room was painted with gore when she looked again. The only clean place in view was a small circle around the lifeless corpse of Sarah T. Larenai.

' _What? You weren't going to avenge your precious mommy, so I did it. It's THEIR fault for taking her away and ruining this happy life she almost set for you… for us.'_

"…Wh-who are you…?" Kimeka had taken off at a full sprint by this time, hands over her ears in a futile attempt to block the voice out.

'… _I'm the true you, Kimeka… the deepest part of your instincts to overcome and subjugate all of these worthless worms… more will come after us, no matter how far we run. The only way to be safe now, is to_ _kill them all. KILL ALL THE HUMANS!_ '

"No, NO! **NO**!" She cried out, "I won't do it, leave me alone. I don't want to hurt anyone!" The tears fell freely and she entered the first building she found, hiding in a closet under a stairwell. After what felt like eons of crying over what she had gained and lost that passed week, Kimeka heard soft footsteps approaching, but she didn't care. Her mommy had told her to run, and she had after a time, but now she was alone and scared, and all she really wanted was the sweet embrace of death; both to reunite with the kind woman that saw her as a daughter, and to end the new hellish existence she found herself living. Kimeka closed her eyes as the door handle turned, and accepted what was to come from the other side.

There was no shot fired, nor was there shocked screams at finding a strange child in one's house. Instead, Kimeka found herself being embraced by a blonde girl no older than the seven that she herself appeared. Slowly, she returned the gesture of kindness, and began to sob anew. "Are you okay?" the new girl asked, "You must be new, don't worry, it's only scary here the first night. Did you get a room assignment yet?"

Kimeka shook her head no, "I… I don't belong here… my mommy is dead and I got scared…" she confessed as her reason for being there, seeing no reason not to tell the truth. "Some scary men broke in and now I'm alone… again…"

"…We've all lost our parents here, one way or the other. Or they left us here for whatever reason…" this time the blonde was the one to tear up, but she held strong for the pink-haired newcomer's sake. "My name's Yulina, I was left in a basket on the doorstep when I was little with just that name on a note. I like to read books and hate it when the movies get things completely wrong in the adaptation. My dream is to one day discover a new species of extraterrestrial life. You?" She introduced herself adjusting the glasses on her nose with a single finger.

"K-Kimeka… mommy found me out in the streets last week," the Diclonius answered, lying as fluidly as Larenai had the week before. "The bad men took her before any papers were signed to make me hers, though…"

"That's so sad… you wanna stay in my room until we get you officially enrolled here? It won't be any trouble at all. My roommate got adopted today."

' _The girl will betray you in time, Kimeka… exterminate her like the rest of them!'_

She stiffened slightly at the command of the voice, and carefully looked around. "D-Did you hear someone just now?" She asked Yulina, who just sighed and hugged Kimeka again. "I'd… I'd like that a lot. Thank you."

"Don't mention it~" The young blonde sing-songed as she led Kimeka up to a small room with only a desk and a bunk bed as furnishings. "It's not much… but it's a place to sleep and do our homework." She admitted. "But, no… I didn't hear anything before… do you have an invisible friend?" She asked.

"It's more than I had before mommy found me…" Kimeka half-truthed. "And it's not a friend, really… she… she says she's 'the voice of my instincts' and… and she tells me to kill people…" She shrugged off the 'emergency bag' which the kind woman who freed her had given her as a last act and tucking it securely into the corner behind the desk. "Which bed is mine?"

"…That's… not good." Yulina said, "but you don't seem too dangerous. Just ignore her and everything will be fine. I've been in both beds, so I don't mind letting you pick, Kimeka," Yulina yawned, the late hour catching up to her once more. "Be quick, though, I'm practically sleeping on my feet here."

"…I'll take the top, then." The unwilling slayer of men climbed up, curling into the corner where nobody peeking in would see her and get Yulina in trouble. "Good night… Yulie."

"Good night, Kimmie" The blonde returned with an affectionate nickname of her own. Then the two drifted off to the land of dreams together.

* * *

=Planet Vegeta, Age 737=

 _*CRASH*_ "Bardock! What's wrong?" A voice cried out as the Psychic Saiyan Warrior fell, toppling through a table as the rest of the dining hall erupted into laughter.

Struggling to his feet, Bardock forced the words of warning he so strongly willed to impart to his race. "Listen everybody… I-It's Frieza… He's coming for us!"

"Us?" One drunken Saiyan asked. "You mean you, right?" Another, this one just confused, finished for the first.

"No!" Bardock proclaimed, rising to his unsteady feet. "Us! You… me… everyone here… It's true, he's scared of us; he wants us all DEAD! My whole crew is dead thanks to that _FREAK_!"

"…Bardock gets his tail whipped and it's the end of the world, right?" Yet another Saiyan, oblivious to the imminent peril they all were in, cracked, earning another round of laughter throughout the room. "Maybe you goons should stop pretendin' to be Elites!" "No kidding right? Welcome to the real world buddyboy!" "It hurts, don't it?"

"…Fools… you're dead…" Bardock muttered under his breath after moments of shocked staring while the others all started laughing about the absurdity of the message. " **FOOLS! YOU'RE ALL DEAD!** " He shouted once more at the top of his voice, causing a silence to fall over the hall. "…He's on his way…!"

"C'mon, Bardock…"

"Fine, believe what you wanna believe… but I'm gonna try and stop him!" The only aware Saiyan finished before turning and heading out to a hall. "But first, there's still just enough time to-GAH!" He thought aloud before stumbling to the ground from his injuries at Dodoria's hands yet again.

" Whoa, you okay, Bardock?" a new, youthful voice asked, it's owner having caught Bardock on his way down. "What the hell happened to you? Did those Kanassans mess you up that bad that Meatheads did this?"

"Scarza… It wasn't a Planet Meat fighter that did this… it was… Dodoria, on Frieza's orders…" Bardock tried once more, hoping perhaps this Saiyan's relatively young age would let the warning pierce his skull. "He's going to kill us all, please… help me find Gine and Kakarot… even if no one else survives, Kakarot will be able to avenge us… It was foretold… just like my squad exterminating the Kanassans… by the last of them."

Without another word, the younger Saiyan helped his senior to his feet and half-led, half-carried him to the dwelling where his mate and newborn son were currently residing. Propping Bardock on one shoulder, the youth blasted open the door in an effort to save as much time as possible. "Gine! It's me, Scarza, the new guard from the Meat Distribution Center… Bardock's hurt and demanded I bring him to you! Where's Kakarot?"

"He's right here, asleep, why? What happened?" the mother of Earth's future hero replied, stopping short upon seeing Bardock's condition of bloody disarray.

"Gine… take Kakarot… and hack a Space Pod to send him off to some random backwater planet… where nobody will find him… Frieza, he's come to eradicate all of us…" Bardock once again got to his feet while stammering this out. His iron-willed resolve burning brighter than the sun in his eyes. "Follow him if you can… but remember to stay hidden."

"But what about you?" she asked, retrieving young Kakarot from his incubator.

Bardock turned and looked Gine dead in the eyes. "I'm going to do my damnedest to stop him… or at least slow him down!" and with a mighty battle cry, Bardock leapt into flight straight to high orbit for his fateful confrontation with the Tyrant Lord Frieza.

Gine watched him go in shock, then turned to Scarza. "Fighting Frieza… he really did get his brains scrambled by that last mission, didn't he?"

Scarza then shook his head. "I don't think so… remember the rumors around Kanassa? About how it can give psychic powers? Bardock knew my name before I said anything to him. We've never met before… so I'm inclined to believe it's true, and that that's what the Kanassan did when he was knocked out… and in that case, we have no time to spare, let's hurry and get Kakarot off-planet! And us too if there's time, a Kanassan's prediction always comes true, I know that much from the file on their planet."

And so it was that as Bardock faced his final fate in a confrontation with the evil Frieza, Kakarot, the Saiyan who would become Goku, was sent on his way off-planet. Scarza knocked out the guards to the space pod hangars and helped Gine requisition one for a low-level planet with minimal resources; all while Frieza and his army were distracted by the future hero's father giving a grand speech.

"Alright! I found one, Gine. Coordinate F-X-fifty, some place called… Ee-arth. Wow, who names these places." Scarza looked up from the console after setting the nearest pods for those coordinates. "…Damn it, those eggheads left the security override on! One of us has to stay and die with the planet to launch the other and Kakarot out of here! Hurry, Gine, I'll lau—UNGH! …"

Gine looked at the console and noted the large green button marked "Launch" on the screen. "Seems simple enough… heh, Bardock always said I was too soft for my own good. Watch out for my son, Scarza…" Gine instructed as she loaded the unconscious youth into a pod. "He must live long enough to avenge us all…" Then the softhearted Saiyan woman sent the pods off, as Frieza's Supernova planet-busting attack came into view against the second sun of Planet Vegeta. "You know… he helped us save Kakarot, and I know nothing of him. If I'm going to die, I can at least know who I sacrificed myself for…" Gine then sat at the console and queried the records database for Scarza's information.

"…Fourteen years old and a power level of only forty-two? No wonder he was just a guard at the MDC… still… I suppose I could have chosen a worse partner for Kakarot… be safe, both of you." And then she knew no more, as the planet Vegeta shattered like so much fine china in a fiery conflagration seen for parsecs in all directions.

* * *

=Earth's Moon, Roughly one week later=

It had been a long journey, thankfully the space pods automated hibernation systems kicked in just after the destruction of Planet Vegeta. Scarza, having awakened after his pod crashed on the moon, reflected on all the people he would never see again as he watched Kakarot's pod continue to land on Earth. "Gine, you sentimental fool… hopefully your son will be able to grow and live in peace with this false mission I set up."

The ship's computer gave off an alert just then. "ATMOSPHERE STABILITY SYSTEM: CRITICALLY. IMPAIRED. FIVE, MINUTES, OF HABITABLE ENVIORONMENT REMAINING. RECOMMEND IMMEDIATE LANDING ON NEARBY PLANET."

"Well, that's just great… computer, calculate the distance to the planet dead ahead, scratch that, calculate the distance to a usable layer of its atmosphere."

"SURVIVABLE ENVIRONMENT DETECTED AT TWELVE. THOUSAND. FIVE. HUNDRED. AND. NINTY. THREE. KILOMETERS. ODDS OF SURVIVING TO SAFE ZONE ON PASSENGER'S OWN POWER ARE ZERO. POINT. ZERO. ZERO. TWO. PERCENT."

Scarza cringed at that news. "Dammit all to Hell… well it's better than flat zero… what have I got to lose? Computer, silent countdown from ten, then open the pod door, I'm risking the jump."

"ACKNOWLEDGED". OPENING HATCH IN TEN…"

Scarza prepared himself, gathering all the strength he could for the initial leap into flight, while simultaneously taking the largest breath he ever had. ' _this is going to be a tough one… but if Bardock can fight Frieza that high over Vegeta, surely I can at least leap from a moon to the planet it orbits… I should probably aim for the oceans though. Dry land might hurt a bit._ ' And at that point the door sprang open and Scarza took his leap of destiny.

* * *

=Meanwhile; a few miles south of Gingertown=

A teenage girl with bright pink hair and soft crimson eyes was sitting on the grass just outside a city surrounded by other, less exotically-colored teenagers. What the rest of them still didn't know however, was that this girl was only nine despite her appearance of a fourteen year old. On the ground next to her was a spilled lunchbox containing several rice balls and a packet of soy sauce, thrown there by one of the brattier girls in the group. "Hey there, Deer Girl! Why don't you graze on the grass if you're hungry?" The kids all chanted, while the largest boy among them tackled the pinkhead to the ground and forced her face to the grass.

"Wh-why, why are you all doing this to me? I'm not a deer!" The young girl muttered, helpless, as the bullies continued to try and force-feed the land's green natural carpet to her.

"What do you mean, Deer Girl? Deer have antlers, you have antlers, therefore you're a deer!" the large boy reasoned as he once more forced the girl's face into the greenery.

"Um, Tesuke, don't deer also usually have hooves?" asked a glasses-wearing girl near the back of the group with hair matching that of the victim on the ground. "I'm not sure your logic is sound considering—"

"NEERRRRD~!" The group as a whole shouted, interrupting the girl. "Sheesh Yulina, nobody cares! It's in service of the joke, try and keep up!"

As the rest laughed on at the torment of her friend, Tesuke continued pouring the verbal torment towards the brainy girl. "Just because you dyed your hair to match your _girlfriend_ here, doesn't mean you have to be socially oblivious about her!"

"Please… do what you want with me. Just leave her alone… She's not wrong, deer do have hooves…"the victim once more voiced her thoughts, the tears in her eyes beginning to be audible in her throat. "please… Yulie hasn't done anything wro-"

"SHUT UP, DEER GIRL!" Tesuke shouted at her, drawing a foot up to stomp the girl's head down to the dirt face-first. Before he could, however, he was thrown off-balance by what would later be described as a meteor impact. "What was that?" Turning to look at the crater behind them, none of the children noticed the young girl with 'antlers' get up and start to murmur to herself, holding her head as though Tesuke's stomp had landed true.

' _I've been telling you for seven years to exterminate these flies, girl…if you don't do it now, they'll kill you._ _ **KILL THE HUMANS NOW!**_ _'_

"It'll never end… never… unless I give in to that voice's demands… will it…?" Kimeka muttered quietly.

The first to hear her was Yulina, a look of terror on her bespectacled face, despite Tesuke being much closer. "Wh-what? What are you talking about, Kimeka? You don't mean… _THAT_ voice? D-Do you?"

"…Yulina… you're the only one here I can say is my friend… not only that, you're the only human I can remotely stand… I can't hold it back anymore… please, run away… I don't want to hurt you… when _SHE_ gets loose and _ **RIPS THESE WRETCHED WASTES OF FLESH APART!**_ " The kind young Diclonius girl gave in to the demands of her most violent instincts. The soft-hearted soul pleading for her friend to flee was replaced mid-sentence with an icy cold killer who could only be described as hatred and rage incarnate. Kimeka's vectors beheaded Tesuke in a shower of blood, causing the other youths to stop laughing in abject horror before she started with them.

Yulina ran as she was told after seeing this… and tripped down into the impact crater just before the crimson rain came on in full force as Kimeka ripped all of the bullies, who had for the past seven years tormented both her and Yulina to no end, limb-from-limb, occasionally using said limbs as bludgeoning tools against others. Shuddering in horror of what her imagination, aided by stories of the girl's species and life before they met, was telling her Kimeka had done, Yulina looked up and saw the object that had fallen from the sky.

"It's a… man? A… person?" Slowly she made her way further down to the fallen body, and, be it her youth, or merely the terror of the psychotic break she had just witnessed the once-kindest girl in her year at the orphanage undergo, she began curiously poking at the body. "…No… he can't be alive… a crater this large he'd have to have fallen from spa-" and then, the man's monkey-like tail twitched. "-ace… Oh my God…" the teen then began furiously shaking the man, trying to awaken him. "Please, wake up… I don't know who you are, but… I don't think I can get out of here alive without your help…"

"Ung… shit… note to self, don't jump from a moon to the planet ever again…" Scarza then sat up and took stock of the girl that had roused him. "…am I even on the right planet? There's no way I circled back to Vegeta… you have no tail and it was destroyed regardless… or did I just dream all of that…" It was here that Scarza noticed the translucent, blood-soaked arms flailing about over the rim of his crater. "What the hell is THAT?" He checked his scouter. "Let's see, power level two, that's this one that woke me up and… wait, what? POWER LEVEL ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX?! This planet's average was five for an adult. Girl, what the hell is going on here?"

Yulina, still a little shellshocked from the man's arrival, was just about to explain when one of Kimeka's vectors came down and dragged her out of the crater before the girl by her throat. She flailed about as much as she could before passing out from lack of air. However before the final decapitation could be committed, Scarza leapt into the air and fired blast of ki directly into Kimeka's face, snapping her out of her bloodlust long enough to realize who she was holding. "…I… I don't know who you are, but please… kill me… I… I don't want to hurt anyone anymore…" The diclonius girl released her hold on Yulina and clutched her head once more.

 _This man is a threat. Kill him before he kills you!_

"No! Leave me alone! I don't want to kill anymore!" Tears fell freely from Kimeka's eyes as she screamed this to the heavens. Sizing up the pink haired girl before him, Scarza checked his scouter once more.

"Power Level sixty-three… Now's my chance! Don't worry, girl, I'll release you from your tortured existence." With that final comment, the Saiyan warrior gathered all of his power and blasted Kimeka with the strongest energy cannon he could muster.

 _No! Defend yourself, girl! Use that power I've given you! NOOOOO!_

And then the voice in Kimeka's head grew silent. "…she's gone…." The pink-haired teen quietly realized as she lay broken with her consciousness fading beside her only even remotely friendly acquaintance. Her vectors absorbed the vast majority of the blast, but there was just too much power for her to stop completely. "I'm sorry… Yulina… please… live…" and with the last of her strength she reached out and took Yulina's hand in her own. "I… can't bear… the thought of you dying… from my own weakness… I'm… sorry…" and then her form grew still.

"…Touching… if the females of this planet are capable of such strength, it amazes me the scans came up with an average of five for the entire population…" Scarza observed aloud as he scooped Yulina and Kimeka into his arms. "The locals' authority figures should be showing up any minute now… These two don't need that worry just yet, if the pinkie is even still alive." And then he took off to the east, away from the city. "Once I've helped them, I'll set out to find Kakarot."

* * *

=A cave just north of East City, an hour later=

Yulina groaned as she awoke, her throat still sore from nearly being strangled by Kimeka's vectors. She tried to sit up to find a more comfortable position than flat on the stone floor, but to no avail. "Wh-where am I? Mr. Meteor Man? Kimeka? Anyone?"

"Keep it down will ya? Your friend there still hasn't woken up and needs her rest. After taking a direct hit from my Spirit Crusher I'm amazed she's even in one piece." Scarza continued to blast away at the wall of the cave. "Make yourself useful and tend to her while I finish making these bed alcoves. I didn't think you or she needed to deal with the authorities so soon after that bloodbath. Now… in exchange for your help settling in on this blue rock you call home, I'll tell you anything you ask that I know. That includes answering my questions, too. First question: What are your names? I'd rather not call you both 'pink one' and 'pink two'. Mine is Scarza."

Yulina stood and unsteadily walked over to Kimeka. "M-my name is Yulina… and sh-she's Kimeka… no last names, w-we're both orphans. Thank you very much for saving us." With a slight bow of appreciation, Yulina then took out a handkerchief and wiped some blood and sweat from Kimeka's face. "Um… where are you from? And why are you here now?"

"Space. I'd tell you the planet, but it blew up about a week ago. My race are called Saiyans, known throughout the galaxy, if not the Universe, as the most fearsome fighters in history, capable of demolishing entire planets within days. Worst case scenario, there are only five of us left… all men. Three were offworld at the time, but I only managed to escape with mere moments to spare thanks to a friend while her mate bought us time… and she entrusted me with their son's safety, but we got separated when your planet's moon intercepted my ship. I know he's on this planet somewhere, but as a one-week old infant he will be hard to track down. Especially with all the physical similarities our races have… My turn, what in hell's name is your friend? She's clearly not a member of the same race as you, unless you can sprout those semi-invisible arms too."

Yulina bit her thumb and looked over the other girl carefully, a generous amount of fear in her expression. "W-well… there's only one explanation for her powers I can think of… and… it's not recent at all. In fact, if our texts in the orphanage were accurate… she's what's known as a _homo sapiens diclonius_ , a subspecies of humans, that's my species, which suddenly appeared relatively recently. Not a lot is known, outside of their extra 'arms' being called 'vectors' and that their 'Queen' went insane and attempted to destroy the entirety of the human race on her own when she was… roughly our age. Diclonii were thought to be extinct after her failure, which left her entire body a melted pile of fleshy sludge from over-exertion of her abilities. By contrast to both Kimeka and yourself, Mr. Scarza, we humans don't have a lot of brute force… though we make up for it in vast scientific achievements! We rose to the top of the entire food web of this planet, Earth, using the power of our minds to create more and more complex tools, from sharpened sticks up, culminating in our most recent major invention: the Dyno-Capsule." Here Yulina pulled out a capsule and tossed it deeper into the cave. There was a large explosion and a cloud of smoke, which cleared to reveal a house where there was once barren stone. "I… wasn't thinking quite clearly when I first woke out of panic. To be honest, Kimeka and I are old enough to leave the orphanage on our own when we're ready, and I had managed to just barely save enough for this capsule house to share… She's the only one that really seemed to be interested when I went off onto long tangents like this one. Back on the topic of Diclonii like Kimeka, physically, they look no different from us ordinary humans, save three key features." Carefully Yulina knelt down over her friend's head, careful not to awaken her.

"And those features would be…?" Scarza prompted, enraptured by the intellectual's ability to talk so long while barely taking a breath.

"Three things… the first, is this." Yulina carefully pulled open Kimeka's eyelids, revealing her crimson irises. "Diclonii all have bright eye colors, almost always a shade of red or pink. Second is her hair color. It is very rare for a Diclonius to have a natural hair color that is not some shade of pink or red. I had mine dyed to match as a show of friendship and support for her. I'm naturally a blonde, a yellow-haired person. And the final difference is the reason for the bullying that set her off into that murderous frenzy you stopped: her horns. Sorry, Kimmie…" and she slowly slid the still-sleeping girl's bangs back just enough to show her horns, before quickly placing a wool-knit cap over them. "We try to hide the horns under hats like this one to keep attention off her. With my hair the same color, most people that don't know us just assume she's wearing it for fashion, since I don't have the horns. Now it's my turn again… um… I've told you about our abilities, w-what are yours?"

Scarza stepped back from examining the structure of the capsule house and faced the girls once more. "I see… Well, we Saiyans were a warrior race in the employ of the one who destroyed our homeworld, Planet Vegeta. He was afraid of our power surpassing his very soon. We have the unique ability to be able to fight pretty much anywhere, and learn fastest on the battlefield. If a fight drags long enough, eventually, our kind will completely learn all of our foes' techniques and, biology permitting, then use them ourselves. Further, when a Saiyan is critically wounded, and makes a full recovery, our power increases immensely. As an example, you'll recall those numbers I was reading as 'power levels' from this scouter?"

Yulina just nodded. This was lot to take in at once for her fourteen-year-old mind, but now she was eager to hear it all. Numbers came into the equation, and numbers were definite, easy to understand things.

"Those are a numerical estimate of the fighting ability of the current target. Before coming here, my power was a relatively pathetic, at least among my people, forty-two. Your friend's was one hundred twenty-six at its peak and sixty-three while she had regained enough of her sanity to ask me to euthanize her and save your life. Considering I knew nothing of her battle style, the only reason I could have won that battle is if I received that power-up after my jump from the moon. Formidable as we are, my people cannot survive the vacuum of space for extended periods… your face was the first thing I saw after blacking out in the upper atmosphere." Scarza took off his scouter and tossed it to Yulina. "Here, push the button on the side and give me the number that appears when I'm inside the circle."

"Oh… o-okay…" Yulina did as she was instructed. "…I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we use different symbols for our numbers. I can't read this. Give me just a moment, I'll write this down for you." And she rushed into the capsule house which came pre-equipped with basic amenities and supplies. A few minutes passed and the human girl returned with the strange numerals scribed onto a sheet of paper. "Here."

Scarza looked amazed when he read the number written on the paper. "…Unbelievable. My power level is over two hundred now… that said, it's incredible Kimeka here is still breathing. I hit her full-force with my strongest attack. For the future, it will probably be easier for me to reprogram this thing to use your world's text. Bring me a few samples to work off of, later. Back to my explanations: As you saw while I was digging the unnecessary bed holes, I am capable of projecting my power as energy bursts and beams. However, I don't think I'll be using them for a good while. If I put out too much power, Frieza will find me with the scouters and then this planet will be destroyed and the escape will be for naught." Scarza finished the explanation by removing the power cells from his scouter. "He's probably still celebrating the demolition of our planet, the bastard. But when he's through he'll be listening in the communication channels again for sure."

"But… wouldn't he… have heard all… that stuff you just… told us?" Kimeka's voice squeaked out from her corner of the cave.

"Not at all. Mine's communicator function was turned off the instant I woke up in my pod on your moon. I had several recorded incoming wide-band messages I've been listening in on since I knocked you out."

Yulina heard none of this after Kimeka spoke, so focused she was on helping her friend into the house. "You shouldn't speak, Kimmie… save your strength and get better. Mr. Scarza, could you help me move her into her bed in the house, please? I'm… not gifted in the physical labor department."

The Saiyan effortlessly picked the Diclonius up and carried her in his arms bridal style. "Not a problem, you're better suited to the use of your brain, anyway. My job back home was to protect the smart ones like you. Though I was transferred to guard the Meat Distribution Center the month before that monster destroyed it. Now let's get you to bed, Kimeka. You have no need to die. While I'm here, I have the power to keep you under control should you suffer another episode like earlier."

"Yulie… how many… did I kill… this time?" The injured girl asked as she was laid down to recover.

Once more, Yulina took her friend's hand in her own, and she reported while staring somberly into Kimeka's eyes, "I'm sorry, Kimmie… Scarza and I are the only ones that survived your episode. You… You took out all of the bullies, but in your fury, everyone else was shredded into so much red paste." Though this was the first time Kimeka had ever been so blinded by fury that she managed to attack Yulina, it was not the first time since they met that negative treatment from other humans had set Kimeka's other side off. Thankfully Yulina had always been able to calm her after whoever triggered her fury fled in terror, preventing any lives from being lost. Yulina knew from experience lying now would only make it that much more upsetting for the horned girl when she later found out. "I'm fairly certain I only survived because I fell into Scarza's crater and woke him up, so he could stop you. But thanks to him, we don't have to worry about creeps like Tesuke anymore. From what I saw out of the cave mouth, we're just outside East City. Nobody knows us there, so we could-"

"NO!" Kimeka shouted. "I… I don't want to live in the city, Yulie… if I lost control again, I'd rather not have any people that close by to kill. We can move the house outside the cave when I'm better, but I'd rather stay out here in the mountains… it's safer for everyone."

Scarza, after watching this incredibly powerful girl spoke with such kindness and so much worry for those she might hurt, decided on a judgment call at that moment. "…If that's how you feel, then I suppose I could train you to control your wild, murderous instincts. But bear in mind it won't be easy. We Saiyans have one more powerful ability I neglected to mention earlier."

"Wh-what kind of ability? How could it possibly help you train me to suppress the voice in my head telling me to kill all of humanity?" Kimeka asked, not believing such a thing could ever happen to a girl so cursed as her.

"This ability is transformation. Upon gazing at a full moon, my people grow into a form known as the Mighty Oozaru. Invariably, those that have seen my people use this ability have called it a 'giant monkey'." Not even Scarza himself knew why he would be laying his trump card out for the Earthlings to see, let alone offer to train this girl in the mental art of maintaining consciousness through the Oozaru Transformation when she could not use the form herself. And yet he found himself doing just that. "Normally, we change and then wake up the next morning, returned to normal in the middle of a wasteland we created in that state… However, our highest-powered warriors, the Royal Family of Vegeta, invented an entirely mental martial art, allowing our people to control ourselves and remember all we had wrought. They opted to hold this art close to the vest, however, only teaching it to their most trusted guards and passing it along the family line. My father was among those guards, and had passed it down to me illegally, and on accident. As I learn quickly, even among my race, I picked it up by merely imitating my father during his training. Mastering this art was enough to warrant a promotion to the Elite Corps, but my Power Level of twelve at the time was too pathetic to qualify as more than a guard for the place nobody bothered to assault: Tech HQ, where we received our scouters and equipment from Frieza's army." Here he looked deep into Kimeka's eyes, almost as if judging the soul behind the ruby red windows. "I feel as though it may help you, if you do indeed black out whenever you unleash your powers as you say, but only if you are willing to work hard and master it. But for now, we'll wait for you to recover from my Spirit Crusher's damage. Night looks to be falling now, so I'll be back in a few hours with some fresh meat." With that, Scarza turned to leave and begin hunting, only to be stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Scarza, you shouldn't go out tonight…" Yulina advised him. "If what you said about the Oozaru is true, you should know that tonight is a full moon, and our planet has one roughly every twenty-nine and a half days."

"Is that so…?" The Saiyan guard pondered while looking at his tail. "That is very good to know, but there is an option to let me out despite that. Do you have a sharpened blade of some form in this house?"

Horrified at what her imagination was providing her with in regards to that question, Yulina stammered out a hasty "I-I can't mutilate you after you saved us, Scarza! Just stay inside, it only lasts a single day."

"…I'm not asking that of you, girl," Scarza clarified. "If we cut off my tail, I won't be any weaker than I am right now, nor any less able to teach your friend. All it will do is render me unable to transform into the ape." He explained as he unwrapped the tail from its belt-like position around his hips. "No tail, no monkey. It would also help me blend in whenever I need to accompany you to that town. In case you missed it, my tail is the only outwardly characteristic Saiyans and humans seem not to share."

"O-Oh… alright…" Yulina gave in and left for the kitchen to retrieve a sharp enough knife.

"…You really care for us, don't you, Scarza?" Kimeka asked once she was out of the room. "I… didn't want to worry Yulie but I haven't heard the voice since you blasted me… normally she would be ranting at me to kill you and get you out of her way… but… somehow the silence is more terrifying than that crazy voice."

"Not going to lie, Kimeka… you and Yulina both remind me a little of my older sister, Kazuni. The majority of our population had jet-black hair like mine, but she was different, and had an exceedingly rare mane of crimson locks… she died on her first mission and I was the one sent to recover her and finish it. When I got there, I found out her pod door had malfunctioned and she ended up killing herself trying to blast the door open… Out of grief I only took the body back and left the locals alone, against orders."

Scarza had to close his eyes to prevent the tears falling from his eyes. The girls saw him as a protector, so he'd fill the role and wait until he was in the wilderness to release the resurgent torrent of grief slowly building in his chest. "She was the muscle between us, my power level now is roughly what she had at birth, though if she remembered anything from her times as an Oozaru when dad trained her in control, she never showed it worked. I told the higher-ups that the planet was a lost cause about to be demolished by an asteroid collision, and that she died killing the last of the locals from a lucky shot. My bosses accepted that and cleared the planet from the database… If I'm being totally honest… you have her exact face, Kimeka."

"I'm sorry for your loss, and it's okay to cry over her, Scarza. We won't think less of you. On this world, mourning for the dead is seen as a way to acknowledge that they mattered." Kimeka reassured him, smiling all the while. "…Neither Yulie or I ever knew our parents or even if we have any biological family at all, alive. Her name was written in a note left with her on the doorstep at the orphanage… I got mine from a kind woman that took me in before soldiers came and killed her for protecting me. Yulie and I came to love one another as sisters, and the dynamic is much like the one between you and Kazuni was… You and Yulie are the brains; Kazuni and I are the brawn… though I never asked for nor wanted my powers."

At this moment, Yulina returned with the blade she was asked to retrieve "Here you go, Scarza… would you rather I did it since I can see where I'm cutting?"

Scarza nodded and stood. "Yeah, I think that would be best. If it's cut too shallow it'll just grow right back in a month or two. You need to cut it off right where it joins with my torso."

"Um, Yulie? Can I do it instead?" Kimeka asked, standing from her bed, apparently already healed. "He took away my inner monster's voice somehow… the least I could do is this in return." And then she reached across the room with a vector and severed Scarza's tail at the base with one swipe. "My vectors can cut much closer than any knife… and cleaner too, with no risk of infection from what's on the knife."

The now-tailless Saiyan cringed against the pain of losing his tail, but blocked it out. "Thanks, Kimeka… You're looking pretty well-recovered already. Another of your diclonius abilities?"

"I believe so… I've always recovered faster than regular humans, but my species are still newly discovered. Even I don't know everything I can do with these arms." The red-eyed girl responded. "Mind if I come out with you on the hunt?"

Scarza looked pensive for a few moments before nodding to Kimeka's request. "Sure, I can get a better handle on your abilities watching you kill the catch with those 'vectors' of yours. Let's go." Then the two exited the cave, leaving Yulina with the task of moving their home into the open air outside.

* * *

 _ **A/N: And that was chapter 1. The massive info-dump on Diclonius and Saiyan physiology was for readers that have not seen all of either Dragon Ball Z or Elfen Lied. And yes, I rewrote the unchanged events in the timeline precisely as originally written in the Dragon Ball anime. This Chapter includes pretty much every significant event in my OCs lives before Dragon Ball began. I intend on having a plot exploring the significant ripple effect with the presence of not only an extra Saiyan, but also a Diclonius and a Diclonius Saiyan-human hybrid in the Z Fighter team. It will just take time for me to plan that out. There will be minimal influences on the story from elements of Elfen Lied's story, such as the**_ _ **torture**_ _ **testing facilities. Chapter 2 will be all the events the OCs influenced in Dragon Ball.**_

 _ **Now, as I promised in the headnote, a footnote detailing all the plotholes in Toriyama-sama's DragonBall Minus special. I will first preface ALL of this with acknowledging that with the exception of #3, I'm basically typing what I'm hearing while listening to blackenfist's YouTube video (the VideoID is UXHiikk4qSo if you'd rather hear this than read it) on the subject, however this is merely him putting to words a formless nagging annoyance I couldn't readily identify while reading.**_

 _ **Raditz, when he arrived on Earth said that Goku (or Kakarot as he is called for this chapter) was sent to Earth to eliminate all life on the planet, so it could be sold later on. As part of the Planet Trade Organization. HOWEVER. Taking DB- into account with this, makes no sense at all, as he was sent there for Superman-esque safety. Some have already attempted to justify this by saying Raditz was lying, but he had:**_

 _ **1) No reason to lie.**_

 _ **2) Nothing to GAIN from lying**_

 _ **3) Nothing to lose from telling the truth.**_

 _ **But this is then handled by claiming Raditz wasn't told what happened to his baby brother, which leads into the bigger plothole: If that was true…**_

… _ **how did Raditz find Goku on Earth at all? Their parents, Gine and Bardock, didn't send Goku to a specific planet, nor did they use an actual official channel. Bardock stole the Space pod, told it "go find a planet far away", and threw the damn thing like a softball. The only people that knew Goku had left Vegeta are therefore Gine, Bardock, and Raditz in the event they managed to tell him in the month before they died from Frieza detonating Planet Vegeta… if they even died, since Tarble grants full license for escaped Saiyans to start popping up around the universe. It is never shown if they died or not, but if they did, and they didn't tell Raditz beforehand, there is no way for him to know this information at all. Even if they did manage to tell him, he couldn't know they sent him to Earth, because even they didn't know where he was heading. Further, a tracking device is a useless argument, as Saiyans aren't the only ones to use those pods, and since Bardock and Gine threw Goku into space in secret, there is no record of him ever even leaving Vegeta. Even with a tracking device, there is no way Raditz would be able to distinguish between Goku's pod, and the infinity-bajillion pods out there in use.**_

 _ **In DB-, young Goku is sent to Earth at 3 years old, when it is established he was much younger than that when he landed. And he was also put into the pod wearing Saiyan Battle Armor, and the pod takes off just as the chapter ends. Goku would have been wearing that armor when he landed on Earth, unless this is plugged up by future mangas when Toriyama needs a paycheck.**_

 _ **Pretty swiss-cheesey, right? Now I'll explain how the events in the "Bardock: The Father Of Goku" TV Special fit better with established reality.**_

 _ **In that version of the story, as Bardock returned from the assassination attempt by Dodoria, intent on warning the Saiyans of Frieza's attack, a one-day-old Goku was simultaneously sent out and crossed his path just outside the atmosphere. But this time, Goku was sent off on a mission to do just as Raditz said in plothole #1: exterminate all life for the PTO. This means that it was a simple matter of Raditz going, "Oh, hey, Vegeta, Nappa, I just remembered I had a brother born the day our home planet exploded. He might be a big help with this planet we're having trouble with! Let me look up his mission file and I'll go fetch him. Ah, Earth, okay, be back in a month, later!" Not a single hole to be found there.**_

 _ **If you have no life at all, you may have noticed the scene I lifted, verbatim, from the Special in this chapter. That was because that version of events has this drastic reduction in plotholes I just doubled the DBZ-related wordcount ranting about. I added in the scenes with Gine and Scarza to provide Gine with existence, and Scarza with a background for how he got off Vegeta in time.**_

 _ **Keeping with the naming convention, Scarza is named after Scorzonera hispanica, aka**_ _ **black salsify,**_ _ **Spanish salsify**_ _ **,**_ _ **black oyster plant**_ _ **,**_ _ **serpent root**_ _ **,**_ _ **viper's herb**_ _ **, or**_ _ **viper's grass. It is cultivated as a root vegetable and belongs to the same family as sunflowers. Thank you Wikipedia.**_

 _ **Kazuni's name is based loosely on Zucchini.**_


	2. Of Demons and Destiny

_**A/N: Disclaimer: the following is a non-profit fan-based fiction. Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT are all owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, and Akira Toriyama. Elfen Lied is owned by Lynn Okamoto, Shueisha, Studio Arms, AT-X, ADV Films, and Madman Entertainment. Please support the official release.**_

 _ **All I dare claim ownership towards is this fic itself, and the OCs held within: the human Yulina, the Saiyan Scarza, Diclonious Subject #562, aka Kimeka and the half-Saiyan Diclonius Lillith, aka Ramea.**_

 **Chapter 2: Of Demons and Destiny**

* * *

=September 10, Age 749=

*THUD* A loud, earthshaking rumble reverberated through the entire household as Scarza dropped the spoils from his latest hunt with Kimeka: a massive dinosaur. "I'm home, ladies!"

Twelve years had passed quietly for the trio of Scarza, Yulina, and Kimeka. With the exception of a few troublesome government people from East City asking them to relocate a little farther away to continue using Scarza's "explosives", the group found no problems whatsoever with simply living their lives. It had only taken Kimeka a matter of months to master the Saiyan martial art of maintaining control of one's own consciousness, thanks in no small part to motivation from the voice of her murderous instincts rearing its ugly head once more. Afterwards, Scarza felt it was safe enough to teach her Bukūjutsu, the power of flight. As with her grip on her mind made iron-clad, she would not fall if the voices in her head tried to distract her anymore.

Yulina had managed to get a Doctorate degree in the fields of both physics and mechanical engineering, with a small amount of help from Scarza reading the blueprints to his space ship. With these accomplishments on her record, the brainy young woman had no issues finding employment with the East City division of Capsule Corp. In time, she discovered she held feelings for her savior on that fateful day outside Gingertown, she worked up the nerve to ask Scarza to be her husband. Scarza, to his credit, had no idea what that meant as Saiyans generally only paired long enough to allow their offspring to be able to defend themselves. So it was no surprise he accepted believing it a new form of battle and found himself in no small magnitude of confusion and taking most of his cues from the Maid of Honor, Kimeka, gesturing with her vectors at the ceremony. As neither of them had a surname to speak of in the union, the trio opted to combine the names of the non-human races in their little family, naming themselves the Diclaiya Family.

The Saiyan had changed the least of the three. Even his power level was still in the same ballpark of the mid-200s. Time on Earth had opened his perception incredibly, however. After stumbling upon an aging martial arts master on a vacation with the girls, he had learned the ability to sense powers without his scouter, though it was still a necessary tool to measure his own strength. Since he had heard of it from the girls after they settled into their new life together, the extraterrestrial warrior participated in the World Martial Arts tournament, hoping for a good challenge both times it had been held since his arrival. He said it was because he expected Kakarot to be drawn to a gathering of strong fighters such as that, and bowed out by taking dives once he had decided there wasn't a decent challenge to be found.

Yulina came out to greet her husband as he returned, giving him a loving peck on the cheek. "Oh, Scarza you're just the best man a woman could ask for~ Kimmie is still practicing her flight in the woods to take her mind off the news she received at her doctor visit this morning. I'm afraid they found out she's a Silpelit Diclonius, but the Doctor was very understanding when it was explained the lengths she had gone to maintain control, and he altered her record to keep it a secret for us, though he asked to meet you tonight at dinner as proof first."

Scarza rolled his shoulder loose as he punched down a tree for firewood while his wife continued to inform him of the situation. "This doctor seems to be a good man from what you say. We can probably trust him to keep her a secret. It would be such a shame to have to kill him if he decided to report her anyway. But your tone sounds as though there's more to this 'Silpelit' distinction than I know already."

Yulina looked to the ground and smoothed the hem of her shirt slightly. "Well… it's just that Silpelits cannot have children, or at least, no known Silpelit Diclonius has ever lived long enough to have one before being killed one way or another."

"…I see, so Kimeka is training to ignore that sobering diagnosis and have some positive outcome from this news. I can understand that." The Saiyan nodded as he began skinning his catch and dressing the meat. "I'll take her food out to her if she isn't home for dinner."

"That's not going to be necessary, guys, I'm home now." Kimeka said as she descended gracefully into the clearing around their home. "…and I wasn't training over the thought I might never have children… it was out of worry about how to tell you this… I chose to be honest with Doctor Sakota about the day 12 years ago, and told him about that final outburst as part of my explanation for the self-control stuff. The problem came when I mentioned how my other self tried to strangle you with my vectors… Yulie, any children you bear are going to be Silpelits too. Just like me… Apparently even touching a vector infects humans with some sort of virus that causes it."

Yulina walked over to her longtime friend and drew her into a warm embrace "I'm sure everything will be fine, Kimmie. All we have to do is make sure she knows not everyone on this planet will be mean over her horns. That was what started the Voice with you, right? Thinking I was the only one that would ever like you?"

Kimeka looked around at the life she had managed to find with Yulina and Scarza, and decided her best friend was right. "Yes… I'm almost certain that had I never met you, Yulie, I'd be dead or completely insane from loneliness by now." The Diclonius then hugged her friend back, with all six arms. "We should get everything set up soon. Doctor Sakota will be here in a matter of hours."

Suddenly, as the trio had just finished carving and dressing the dinosaur meat to put into storage for later, the noontime sky fell dark with stormclouds and golden lightning arced amongst them. Scarza was the first to recover enough to say anything. "I've been here for twelve years now and this is the first time I've seen something like that. I'm assuming that isn't a regular occurrence. But let's hurry and get this meat inside before the storm starts pouring."

Kimeka nodded and started towards the tree Scarza had brought home earlier. "That's likely a smart idea, you handle that. I'll hurry and cut the firewood with my vectors, hold the door for us, Yulie."

The human girl released her grip on Kimeka and ran as fast as she could to the house's storage cellar door. "Alright, be quick you two… once we're inside I'll tell you what else I think it might be from some rumors around work." And that bit of motivation to work swiftly worked remarkably well, as the two non-humans looked expectantly at their scientist friend from around the table not even five minutes later. "Wow, a new record. Anyway… the boss's daughter has been chasing a legend that involves a sudden change in weather like this one: The Dragon Balls."

"Dragon Balls?" Kimeka asked, "I remember reading something like that in the waiting room this morning… supposedly they grant a wish to the one that finds all seven."

Yulina nodded, "It's just as you said, Kimmie, but after each use the balls scatter to the far corners of the planet. Apparently the girl built a device she calls the Dragon Radar, which can find the balls based on their unique energy signatures."

"Sounds like she could give you a run for your money in the brains department, Yulina," Scarza chimed in. "Am I to assume that once summoned, the dragon's mere presence is what caused the sky to turn black just now?"

The brain nodded once again, "That is correct, it seems that Ms. Briefs wasn't just chasing a myth after all… but Kimmie and I have no need to go searching for the balls after they scatter. You've already granted our wishes, Scarza." And then she leaned in and kissed her husband. "We're alive, Kimmie can control her instincts, and my job brings us enough money to live comfortably as long as we're here. The only thing missing at all is children to love and raise."

Scarza nodded "I agree completely, there is nothing else we would really need to wish for… I'm pretty sure there's going to be a catch to their power that makes my own wish ungrantable. One of those balls could scatter and crash through the window and we'd have no need reason to do more than place it in the knick-knack cabinet with Kimeka's seashell collection." Just as he said this, there was a flash of golden light and the window in the south wall shattered, a perfectly spherical stone roughly the size of a softball crashing through it and slamming to a stop against Kimeka's head, shattering her left horn. As the Diclonius fell to the floor, the sky began to clear up. "…Why did I open my big mouth? I'll get her upstairs to bed and put it away… you gather the pieces of her horn and clean up the window glass."

"Alright… I'll call you when the doctor comes. I guess if she was going to be hit by that, today was the best day since he's already on his way." And Yulina carried out her task, finishing just as the doctor arrived for the meeting.

"Ah, you must be the brilliant Miss Yulina. A pleasure," Doctor Sakota introduced himself. "I am Doctor Sakota, your friend Kimeka truly undersold your beauty, my dear…"

"She's married, Doctor. To me," Scarza interrupted as he made his way down the stairwell. "I'm glad you happened upon Kimeka's species and requested this dinner, actually… She just suffered a bit of an injury about the time those strange storm clouds disappeared. If you wouldn't mind, it will take Yulina a little while to prepare the meal yet. If you could see to Kimeka and make sure she's not hurt too terribly?"

"Of course, Mr. Diclaiya, I'd have to turn in my license to practice if I refused to see a patient in need." Sakota replied as he made his way upstairs. "Diclonii like Ms. Kimeka heal absurdly fast compared to us humans, as long as her horns are intact, she should be right as rain before I leave." The good doctor had to stop midstride when he noticed the concerned look Scarza and Yulina shared. "…Oh, one broke did it? don't worry about that, it will just slow her down a bit until it grows back… I'd give it maybe a week or two. To be sure, I'll need to see her right away." And he continued to Kimeka's room to give her the promised once-over. It was not even twenty minutes before he came back down, a fully conscious Kimeka right behind him. "She'll be fine, just a chip off of the tip is all."

"Thank you for seeing me, Doctor… Ah… it still hurts a little." Kimeka said, rubbing at the bandage around her broken horn.

"That's to be expected. It will itch like crazy once it stops hurting as new bone, cartilage, and keratin grow in to fill the void. You're quite lucky, young lady. Any further down and you would be in an irreversible comatose state until it grew back."

The three friends all sighed a collective breath of relief at the prognosis given. "Oh, what a relief that is… I'll get right to work on dinner now while you and Scarza talk things over. Care to give me a hand or five, Kimmie?" Yulina smiled and carted her childhood friend off without waiting for a response.

The two men sat down at the table to discuss matters, Doctor Sakota began. "Kimeka tells me you're the one that taught her to control herself so well, Mr. Diclaiya?"

"Scarza, please." The Saiyan asked of him. "We made that name up from nothing entirely for the purpose of filling a blank in all the paperwork. The girls are both orphans and I come from a place where there was no need for a surname. To answer your question: Yes, I am indeed the one that helped her block off the voice of her more savage instincts. Personally, I've never heard of one mastering the art as rapidly as she has."

"I see. Now, may I ask what the large amount of blood coating your front lawn would be about?" Sakota pressed on, "I want to believe you about Kimeka, but procedures for dealing with potential Diclonii require I make absolutely sure she isn't a threat. The only reason I'm striking her race from the records is some other physicians may not be as sympathetic to her situation as myself and report her the moment they saw it."

Without missing a beat, Scarza answered, "That would be about how fresh the meat you're about to be served is. I killed it this morning with my bare hands. Kimeka's vectors are really quite helpful for cutting and dressing the carcasses, not to mention how quickly the firewood was reduced to usable size. Thank you for your care and caution, sir. And thank you Kimeka, for the drinks." The last part came as the wounded young Diclonius came back to the dining room, carrying plates of food in her hands and drinks for all four diners in her vectors. "It really is a shame about the human-slaughtering instinct. If nothing else, Diclonii would dominate the service industry's job market for wait staff."

Doctor Sakota laughed jovially at the humorous image of Kimeka waiting tables in the middle of East City's finest restaurants, while less-accepting citizens cowered in the corner of their booths when she brought their orders. "Yes, a damn crying shame, that. You needn't worry, Kimeka. I'll be marking you as a normal human in your medical records. A small number of us actually do have horn-like growths on their heads from a callous-forming disorder, so that's what it will read. Your teacher here has an honest face and has given me no reason to doubt his word that you are in full control of yourself."

Kimeka set the table around the two men and bowed her gratitude. "Th-thank you so much, Doctor. You are by far the kindest human I have met since Yulie. I hope her 'steakosaurus' is to your liking." And at that she sat at her place to Scarza's left, as Yulina had brought out the much smaller portions the girls ate compared to the Saiyan warrior.

The Doctor cut a small segment off his steak and chewed thoughtfully. "Ah, it is delicious, miss Yulina. You're quite the chef. But I have doubts I'll be able to finish such a large helping in one sitting."

Yulina blushed slightly at the praise given, "Oh, that is no problem, Doctor. You can take whatever is left with you if you'd like."

"No no, that is quite alright." Sakota declined while passing the excess meat to Scarza, who devoured it in addition to his own meat with little trouble. "I think I should be going shortly, anyway. Kimeka isn't my only patient, you know. If you need any medical assistance with Kimeka, you can call me with no worries. Ta-ta~" And with that the Doctor reclaimed his hat from the rack near the door and departed.

* * *

=April 19, Age 750=

Another several uneventful months passed for the Diclaiya family. By this time, Yulina had found the time after work to join Scarza and Kimeka in training to use her ki for flight, as Bukūjutsu was much more convenient than a capsule car for her everyday commute to East City. The girl's relatively low reserve of ki made it slow going, however. "I still can't believe how much easier this was for Kimmie…" Yulina sighed, watching as the Diclonius did lazy loops in mid-air.

Scarza drew his bride into an embrace and explained, "She's been training very hard to protect herself, Yulina. The simplest way to put it is… she's far more in shape than you are. While you are at work using your brain for everyone's good future, your physical fitness stagnates a small amount."

"Are you saying I'm getting fat?" Yulina huffed, causing the Saiyan to backpedal quickly.

"N-no, dear. Just that you aren't generating as much ki to use as we are because we've been spending pretty much every waking moment training. Your ki is very much like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets; our physical bodies have pretty much peaked out as strong as they can become since we're constantly working, while you have a lot longer breaks when you go sciencing, so the effects are much slower. At your current rate, I'd give it about a month before you can fly stably. But once you get there, it is very difficult to lose enough strength to keep at that level if you use it regularly, which you plan to do travelling to and from the city. Quite simply: You use it, or lose it." Scarza concluded, satisfied he had successfully corrected his blunder of wording.

Slightly puzzled, Yulina stared up at her childhood friend gaining air speed with each circle she drew. "…But you've been punching down larger and larger trees each day, honey. How can you be getting stronger if you've reached your physical peak condition?"

This question brought a chuckle from the Saiyan, "Ah, that's just another application of ki. I've been reinforcing and augmenting my power by focusing the internal energy to the points it is needed the most. In the case of punching trees down for firewood, my fists. Or as Kimeka is doing to gain speed up there, the cushion of her ki upon which she is floating. The skill will come in time, Yulina, you just need to practice. If you need more time, you could try working without a chair at your desk and sitting in the air instead." Suddenly he stiffened as he sensed a new presence approaching from the northeast. "Kimeka, get down from there, somebody is coming. We don't need any more students for flying, or we'd never get any peace anymore."

The diclonius girl landed gracefully and wiped a few beads of sweat from her brow. "Thanks for the heads-up, Scarza. I got a glimpse on my way down, and it looked like a military jeep."

"Guten Morgen meine Freunde." A new voice rang out from the aforementioned direction, a large, muscular, blue-eyed, blonde man wearing a brown suit with red tie and blue pants slowly approaching.

"If you have any business with us, make it quick, blondie. We're very busy today preparing for the upcoming Martial Arts tournament." Scarza snarled. Something about the newcomer didn't feel like he would be very welcoming to his girls' unique characteristics, or at least Kimeka's.

"Oh, dear me, I'll have to make this quick then, wouldn't want to hinder such a worthwhile endeavor. My name is General Blue of the Red Ribbon Army. My organization has reason to believe your household contains a little something we are keen on retrieving. It is a ball, roughly yay-big and gold, with little crimson stars upon it?"

"That? Fine, just keep your weapons and goons trained away from our home and there won't be any conflict. Only thing it ever did was crack Kimeka's skull when it came crashing through the window. Have fun finding the rest of them around the planet." Scarza chucked the recently recharged Dragon Ball over to General Blue. "Now please leave, my newest pupil still hasn't mastered her most basic skill and needs as few distractions as possible."

The military man was stunned that Scarza would just hand over something so rare for nothing. "Ah, that was easier than I had expected. You do know how much one of these would be worth?"

At this point Kimeka jumped over and added her own two cents "Yes, quite a large amount to be sure. But we don't really have need of its blessings, and Yulie makes enough at her job for us to live comfortably. We're perfectly happy as we are now. Plus my head still throbs a little every time I see it..." She then rubbed her head around the horn that broke from the impact the previous year.

"Ah, I see. It shall be my pleasure to remove such a troublesome trinket from your presence, miss. We shall be going now, then. Good luck in the Martial Arts championship; Auf Wiedersehen!" General Blue left at this moment, and once he felt certain he was out of earshot, sneered victoriously. "That was almost TOO easy. I shall be heading back to base in order to lock away this glorious gift. No witnesses, men. These fools may yet change their minds over this."

Scarza frowned as his superhuman Saiyan hearing picked up Blue's words. He turned to Yulina, "Yulina, dear, please get inside the cellar and don't come out until Kimeka or I gets you… That prick just sent his goon squad to eliminate us as witnesses." He punched his open palm. "Kimeka, you get to ruin as many as you want and nobody will blame you, so long as they stick around after my initial attack." Scarza caught the first bullet and flung it back to its sender. "They started this war. We just finished it." And so the Saiyan and Diclonius duo set to defend their home against the Red Ribbon Army.

They should have brought a bigger arsenal, it wasn't even a fight. Regardless of Scarza's statement that there would be no bad feelings toward her slaughtering the lot of them, Kimeka refused to take a life, instead destroying all of their weaponry and putting the fear of Kami into the foolish private military organization by taking full advantage of her horns giving the impression of an Oni when she surged an updraft with her ki. Seeing this, Scarza decided against killing as well. Thinking a message would be best conveyed through a thoroughly defeated platoon retreating in sheer pants-moistening terror than a pile of corpses. "Okay, asswipes, listen up. We were holding back and let you live this time. Kimeka did so out of her personal values; I did it out of respect for her wishes. If we see your insignia anywhere near our home again, I'll kill every last one of you myself. Is that clear? Tell your boss he shouldn't start a fight he can't finish." And the warrior from beyond the stars turned and walked back to the home he shared with the girls. "This battle is over; it will only continue if he chooses for it to do so. Now scram!" And he punctuated that last command by vaporizing a tree at the edge of the clearing with a single effortless ki blast.

They never heard from the Red Ribbons' Blue Company again.

* * *

=May 9, Age 753=

"Kimeka! Scarza! Quick, come look at the television!" Yulina cried out from within the family's dwelling. The named fighters rushed in to see what was going on, and bore witness to Piccolo Daimaō's proclamation of Piccolo Day.

"That's…!" Kimeka cried out, shocked at what she saw as well.

"…No, Kimeka," Scarza corrected. "It's neither of the two monsters that slaughtered the tournament's top 8. There's a lot different, but I feel as though they're still connected somehow. Perhaps it's a good thing we missed the last two because you broke a leg… and then mine the next time."

"…I know that all of you share my enthusiasm, because it is a privilege and honor to be a part of this event. You're gonna love this… Your planet-heh, MY planet- is divided into forty-three sectors. Each is represented by a slip of paper which has been placed in this box. To commemorate the anniversary of my rule I declare this day, May 9th, as Piccolo Day. As part of this annual celebration I'll draw a slip from the box each year. And guess what, folks? There's more! " and the green giant on the screen spun a globe.

"More? What, is he going to level the sector he draws?" Yulina and Kimeka looked shocked at Scarza as he supposed this outcome. Yulina was the first to find her voice and ask the question on both girls' minds.

"Wh-why would you predict that, love?"

Scarza smirked and laughed it off, "I'm getting a strong 'Frieza' vibe from this guy. Strongest in the world, declares himself emperor, torments those he finds weaker than himself… It's exactly the kind of thing Frieza would do to a planet he wasn't afraid of in order to keep the destruction from being too boring."

After a pause, the Demon King continued. "The chosen sector will host that year's celebration, which will culminate in its destruction…" he grabbed the globe, forcing it to stop. "…and I will do the honors."

Scarza's ki flared in his rage "I hate it when I'm right… nothing good ever comes from it."

"I am not without mercy, the sector's annihilation will be instantaneous. There will hardly be any time to feel any pain!"

"THAT'S HORRIFIC! WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO CRUEL?!" shouted former King Furry in abject shock and horror from off camera.

"Hmph. It's nothing new, this world celebrates occasions with explosions in the sky, mine are just more dangerous. Besides, I can't wait to see the terror on people's faces… and after all it is MY celebration! MAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"…Yulina, Kimeka, if there's even the slightest chance his choice is the sector with our home, I have to go and face him." The Saiyan warrior turned to leave for Central City to face the Great King of Evil, but was stopped by both of his precious women holding him back with all eight of their arms.

"Scarza… we know how you feel, but… " Yulina began.

"Yulie got back from the hospital yesterday about her recent vomiting spells and…" Kimeka continued, and then looked to Yulina to see if she wanted to tell her husband the news herself.

"…We don't think you should risk your daughter growing up without a father."

"Oh," The King's voice continued on the TV, having drawn the number of his first target "not too far away… HAH! Looks like sector twenty-nine!" and with that Yulina stiffened with fear.

"…Never mind, dear… go ahead, if he obliterates that sector, Capsule Corporation will be destroyed too… While a father is nice, it would be a lot harder to care for her without my job bringing in Zeni."

"Just promise us you'll get away if he proves too much for you. Should I come and help?" Kimeka offered.

"No, Kimeka. One of us has to stay behind and help Yulina control our child," Scarza declined with reason. "The girl will be born with Saiyan blood, and your curse of insanity. It will take at least one of us to keep her from killing Yulina on accident until she can learn the training I gave you."

"A-Are Saiyan children really that dangerous?" Yulina asked, frightened.

"No, not really, but if Kimeka is anything to go by, our natural strength and her diclonius powers are a dangerous combination." Her husband affirmed. "I promise I'll come back alive, if I possibly can." And away he flew to Central City, planning on stopping the Evil King.

* * *

=King Castle, Central City, 30 minutes later=

"Wait… what the…? The City, King Castle, it's all gone… did the big guy stub his toe and let out a blast of this magnitude in rage?" Scarza puzzled as he examined the ruined landscape. "He has to be at the center of this." And at that moment the foe ahead let out a mighty roar as he launched a new attack on some unseen adversary.

"GRRRR THAT'S TOO BAD 'CAUSE YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT! GURAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Well that can't be good. OH SHIT!" Then the Saiyan warrior dropped to the ground and laid down flat to avoid the destructive shockwave of what looked like a nuclear blast. "…OR he could be fighting someone else already who is incredibly strong… Maybe I won't need to call Kimeka in after all… better stealth mode it from here." And so he silently walked towards the center of that explosion, intent on aiding whoever was engaged with the mighty King Piccolo in finishing the job. At the moment he made it to within sight of the crater, the Flying Nimbus Cloud shot by him, and raised its user from an enormous hole in the ground. "…No way… that tail, the hair, the enormous power I can feel from here… _Kakarot_ is the one fighting King Piccolo!?"

Then the small boy spoke to the Demon King, all present oblivious to the new observer. "What's wrong? You look surprised to see me," said the boy known in the battle as Son Goku, laughing. "That attack wasn't nearly as good as the last one!"

Scarza took one good look at Goku and made a decision, unaware he was speaking aloud, while not loudly enough to be heard over the echoes of the blast in the fighters' ears. "Spoken like a true Saiyan, Kakarot… I was planning to assist you before… but for now, I'll hang back here and observe how strong this planet's people have made you… this guy would give me a run for my money, no doubt about that… make no mistake, I won't let one of my last Saiyan brothers fall without aid. Now do it!"

"I don't get it; that's impossible! How could you survive that?!" King Piccolo demanded from the young warrior. "I've fought all over the universe and I've NEVER met anyone with the strength to face me in hand-to-hand combat!"

"Hahaha… Well I guess I'm not like other people because I've got a tail!" Goku replied, "Do you want to see how powerful I really am? Well just try and attack me again if you've got any energy left! Hehe, C'mon! I'm ready!"

"Kakarot has the King shaking in his boots…" Scarza observed, "To think it's only been twelve years, and he's on par with me at this very same moment! But wait… his leg is injured. No time to relax, yet…. What? Who's that? An ally?"

King Piccolo ran over to the semiconscious form of Tien Shinhan, lifting the three-eyed man bodily by the skull; laughing all the while. "Now look who's in control! I think you'll agree I've got the upper hand!" and he began applying pressure to Tien's head.

"Stop it! Leave him alone!" Goku cried out, hesitant to trigger anything worse for Tien.

"Ah, that's gotta hurt! You'll do as I say, or I'll really put the squeeze on your friend!" Piccolo issued as an ultimatum. When Goku took a staggered step forward, the hostage-taker continued. "Don't move! Take one more step closer, and I'll give this guy a headache he's NEVER gonna forget!"

"Grr… Let him go!" Goku said, trying to find a way to rescue Tien before he was pulped.

"Goku, forget about me! Just make sure you destroy this monster!" Tien croaked out, earning another debilitating squeeze from his captor.

"DON'T give him any ideas," advised the Great Evil King.

"Stop it, Stop it you monster, grr… LET HIM GO! Please. I'll do whatever you want." Goku resorted to begging while he continued turning the situation over in his young mind.

"That's a good little boy." Piccolo laughed.

"He cares a good deal about his comrade… he's become a great warrior, and he's been made a good person by whoever found him, just as Yulina and Kimeka did for me. Gine, if you could only see him now… strong like his father, yet kind, like you."

"One move, and it's over." Piccolo warned as Goku straighten despite his injured right knee. The monster then leaned down and picked up a stone from among the debris at his feet "That's it, stay right where you are. You wouldn't want to cause an accident." He monologued on while reapplying pressure to his captive's dome, causing Goku to take a step forward out of concern "Watch it!" The king then held the rock in front of his face and, using only his breath, propelled it at rocket-like speeds, breaking Goku's left arm with the impact. "Too bad! You won't be able to use that arm anymore! Look at you, you're crying like a baby! You'll have to learn to be tougher than that, maybe if you were more like me you could overcome anything, even pain!"

Goku bit back the tears of pain and glared up at the King of Demons. "There's, no way, I'd ever want to be anything like you!"

"Are you so sure?" the king replied, overconfident with his foe further disabled.

"Tien, forgive me, but I can't let him get away with this!" Goku cried

"What? You fool! Don't you care about your friend's life?" King Piccolo demanded, disbelieving the boy would be so bold with Shenron murdered by the very being in front of him, and thus, the Dragon Balls unavailable to revive a casualty.

"Of course! And if I have to collect the Dragon Balls to revive him, then so be it!"

"Huh?" King Piccolo grunted, looking to the man in his grip and laughing. "Haven't you heard? I already killed the dragon!"

Goku recoiled in shock. "What?! That can't be! That can't be true!"

"Killed the Dragon?! That's it… first opening I see, I'm stepping in and wasting this creep." Scarza said aloud, yet again, as he strategized.

"Ha! Why would I lie about that? Even the Eternal Dragon was no match against my power!" Piccolo began bragging.

"Grrr… NO! How could you DO that?!" Goku yelled, his frustration mounting with the foe before him.

"Hahahahahahaha, it's over. Once I finish exterminating your friend there's nothing anyone can do about it!" The dragonslaying villain proclaimed as his procured another rock. "Oh… if you move, he's finished; if you stay where you are, you're finished! Either way you lose!" and he launched the second rock, this one taking out Goku's good leg.

Scarza cringed at the impact, knowing it was a direct hit that shattered the younger Saiyan's bones. "Dammit… Come on, Kakarot, think of something to get your friend free from his grip for even one second and I can save him for you. If you don't, and die, then I'll have no choice but to take the Demon King out with him."

"Hahaha, Oh, my, that looked like it HURT! Ahahaha… What're you gonna do? You don't have a leg to stand on anymore!" Piccolo continued gloating. "Crawl, like the insect you are!"

"I can't stand this… his attention is fully on Kakarot, but if what he said is true and he killed the dragon the last time it was summoned, I can't risk it in good faith until there's no doubt at all… he'd never forgive me if I cost him his friend's life. And then Gine would have sacrificed herself for an ineffective protector…" and just as Scarza said this, Piccolo dropped Tien to the ground in a heap.

"Well, your friend here is no use to me anymore; he's served his purpose. I guess I'll finish him later. Now it's your turn!" The green giant laughed as he began to rise. "You can't do anything now, you're completely helpless! This battle will soon be over now and victory will be MINE!"

"Now's the chance I need!" Scarza rushed out and grabbed Tien, carrying him away from danger before planning how to attack the flying embodiment of evil before he finished the young Saiyan off for good. Moving so fast neither Goku, nor the distracted King Piccolo noticed Tien vanish. When he turned around, however, Piccolo had begun to dive, one pink polka-dotted arm extended in what was sure to be a fatal punch. "No, I've got to get back there. Sorry it took so long to get you out of there, er… Tien. I had to wait for the right time, and Piccolo dropped you first. Now I have to save Kakarot!" and the adult warrior vanished in a flash of dust, hoping to protect his charge.

"You're MIIIIINE!" Piccolo declared.

"That's what you think, buddy! I've still got one arm left that I can use!" Goku shouted back before charging his ki for one final Kamehameha Wave, which he aimed at the ground to ascend, and strike, shocking the evil flier to a stop. "I'M COMING AT YOU WITH EVERYTHING I'VE GOT!" He cried at the top of his lungs.

"WHAT?! Good luck," the demon challenged as he formed some strange barrier of ki around his hands "I'll block it!"

"Heh,"Scarza chuckled. "I don't know why I was worried. We Saiyans are survivors, after all. Good move, Kakarot." The elder Saiyan stopped and began to charge a powerful ki blast cannon of his own, knowing that his junior would not be able to launch another attack should this one fail. "If that doesn't kill him, I will, with my Spirit Crusher!"

"It's time for your terror to end!" Goku screamed as he re-focused the energy of his launching blast into a charged punch, backed by the momentum he had gained, and managed to penetrate not only the Demon King's barrier block, but his very torso as well. "…I won… I DID IT!" The boy cried out triumphantly as he realized it.

"Good job, Kakarot, you think that. Get your rest. I don't need the fame just yet… but he's still moving, hollow as a donut or not." Scarza congratulated the boy while gathering all of his strength into a single blast. "I'll finish this guy off for you. You've earned this win. Just a few more seconds and I'll have gathered the power to completely destroy him… Now I recognize his race… and I won't allow that pesky Namekian Regeneration to be your undoing!"

"GAH!" The wounded tyrant cried in agony. "I don't believe it… He flew right through me… How could he defeat me like that? So, I underestimated his strength… He's won, for now… but my legacy on this planet will survive…!" The doomed demon then coughed up one final egg, containing his full essence, and launched it over the horizon. "Good luck… my son. Get revenge for my demise… Destroy all my enemies…"

"In the name of all you've ever harmed with your tyranny, die Piccolo!" Scarza fired the overcharged Spirit Crusher at this moment, blinding himself to the egg's existence with its light. The blast destroyed King Piccolo, at the exact moment he swelled to explode from the damage wrought by Goku's penetrating punch. "Stay strong, Kakarot… or Goku, as you've become known on this world. I finally managed to find you to carry out your mother's wish. And you've already reached the level where you do not need me. I'll be watching out for you from afar nonetheless. I have a family that needs me more than you, now." At that the father-to-be caught the younger Saiyan just after he passed out from exhaustion, and left him gently on the ground below. "You'll get even stronger once you recover from that beating, kid. One of the perks of being one of our people. Maybe I'll see you at the next World Tournament. Until then…" and he flew off back to East City, to deliver the good news to his protégé, and the mother of his child.

* * *

=May 7th, Age 756; 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament=

"Kimeka Diclaiya has fallen out of the ring! That means Krillin will be moving on to the quarter-finals!" the announcer's voice rang out as Kimeka stood on the grass.

"That was a good match, sir." The girl bowed politely as she faced the shaven human warrior. "Hopefully we can meet again in another event." With nothing more to say, she flew out into the audience seats and found a vacant spot beside Yulina, a horned 2-year-old with a hot pink monkey tail and strawberry red hair happily cheering for her honorary aunt's efforts. "Aw, thank you, Lily. Your cheering really helped, but let's cheer for daddy now. It's his turn."

The child giggled at the pet name her aunt used, "Okay~ Go geddem daddy! I wuv you!"

With the ring cleared of debris, the announcer began once more "and now, the final qualifier for the last quarter-final slot. Would Yamcha and Scarza Diclaya please report to the ring?" The two named fighters made their way side-by-side in the waiting area and faced one-another in the center.

"So, that other Diclaiya that Krillin just beat. Is she your wife or something? You look nothing alike so I doubt you'd be brother and sister." Yamcha inquired, extending a hand for a fair pre-battle shake.

"Protégé, actually. She's basically sisters with my actual wife; the two are sitting together now if you'd care to see my daughter as well. I highly recommend it before the match begins." Scarza answered amicably, pointing in the direction with his free hand while accepting the handshake.

"Um… is your daughter the one with the…" Yamcha asked nervously, taking extreme notice of the toddler's brightly colored tail.

"The very one. And yes, I am indeed connected to the participant you think I am now that you've seen that." The two then retreated to ready positions. "I'll explain the whole thing from the very beginning at the end of the tournament. Feel free to bring the entire group of your friends. For now, there is a common foe of ours listening in, even if he doesn't realize my identity. I'll even let you take the first action, come at me."

The fight against the intensely serious Scarza went about as well as you would expect for Yamcha. He led off with his faithful Wolf Fang Fist. The former door guard blocked every strike in the former desert thief's combo. "…Alright, you've got some skill. I can see how that Kimeka girl lasted so long against Krillin if you're her teacher. But now let's see you handle this move." Yamcha said as he began gathering power into a baseball-sized construct just above a skyward palm. "Spirit Ball!" He unleashed the directed attack, controlling it for multiple strikes through gestures.

Scarza took a beating from the orb, but his feet never moved an inch from his starting position. "Not a bad trick… let me show you one of mine. Don't worry, I'll dial its power back so it's within the rules of 'no killing'. I call this, Soul Blaze." The Saiyan launched a burst of ki at Yamcha that completely engulfed his gi in bright blue flames.

By the time Yamcha had put the burning attire out, it was a tattered, singed rag just shy of violating public decency laws. "I forfeit. This guy's too much for me, that much I think is plain to see to everyone."

"That's not all that's plain to see, handsome!" Kimeka shouted from the stands, earning an uproar of laughter from the rest of the audience and a blush from Yamcha that was redder than her niece's hair. Or that might have been from the wink she sent his way alongside the universal hand sign for "Call me."

The announcer coughed to clear the air as the laughter at Yamcha's state of dress subsided. "Yes, well… at any rate the winner by forfeit, and opponent up against Hero in the 4th quarter-final bout is Scarza Diclaiya!"

The victor shook hands in sportsmanship with Yamcha once again, as an excuse to pass his warning along to Goku's group. "I'm honestly surprised if Tien Shinhan hasn't noticed this yet, but Ma Junior looks exactly like Piccolo Daimaō when Goku devastated him. Be wary." Rather than follow back to the waiting area, Scarza then flew over and sat with his family.

"Daddy!" the neon-colored half-Saiyan cried while all-but-tackling her father out of his shoes. "I betchu ah gonna win da whole thing, wite mommy?"

Yulina giggled at the display of affection her baby girl showed her father, "Not if you keep knocking the stuffing out of him every time he comes to say hi, sweetie~ So, did you tell them about him, dear?" The scientist asked her man.

"Of course. It would be very bad if they were caught unaware when he made his move," the proud father replied while tossing his child in the air. "Also, after everything is over, you two will finally get to meet the man I was sent here to protect, and you can enjoy them losing their cool the instant the rest see little Ramea's tail.."

"Now honey, we talked about this…" Yulina scolded. "She's only Ramea when she's training to control herself and be big and strong like her daddy and Aunt Kimmie. Every other time, she's Lillith Diclaiya or Lily for short. It's great that you gave her a Saiyan name to remember her heritage by, but we live on Earth and it'll be hard enough to get the human population to accept her just from being a Diclonius like her aunt."

"Ah, right. Sometimes her cuteness makes me forget." Scarza explained between tosses. "Though it's a Saiyan trait, that tail. So in a way, the tail only belongs to Ramea." He then noticed his wife's unamused stare, indicating she did not buy his reasoning at all. "Or I could just be talking out of my own tail to save face and should shut up now."

"Yes, you should, because it's time for your match." Yulina just pointed to the ring where Krillin had just surrendered his match to Ma Jr.

"After showing more stamina than any fighter could hope to muster, Krillin has decided to stand down! Therefore, under tournament guidelines, Junior wins the match!" The announcer cried out in his usual over-the-top style. "Now it's time to determine who will fight the green powerhouse next! Would Scarza Diclaiya and Hero please come to the stage?"

"Don't you think it would be prudent to remove Krillin from the ring first?" Scarza asked the announcer, totally deadpan, as he leapt in from the stands, before leaning down to help the bald battler to his feet. "You did well, shorty. I'll help you back to your friends before starting my match."

"We can tell how much strength you really have, you know… you aren't here to cause trouble are you?" Krillin asked quietly while using the Saiyan as a crutch. "It's obvious you were holding a lot back against Yamcha…"

"I intend no harm to the people of this world, unless they make themselves a threat to my family," the taller fighter explained. "Yamcha will fill you in on what little I can tell your group for now. The rest comes after the tournament. Short version is I was watching when Goku defeated the green guy's dad, and if things get rough, I'm on your side." Scarza handed Krillin off to Tien and returned to the ring, where 'Hero' was waiting. "Sorry it took so long, wouldn't do to start the match with him in the way, after all." And Scarza settled into a fighting stance as Hero did the same.

Prepared for an intense stare-down before the battle truly began, Scarza was caught off-guard by how active Hero's stance was, moving his hand about like a wizard of some kind rather than holding them stationary in a position for a quick guard. _This guy must have gotten lucky to make it this far with a stance that loose and sloppy…_ the Saiyan thought to himself. "Interesting technique… you can have first strike, if you'd like. Just please try not to kill me outright in one blow. I have a child to care for, after all." He offered, his guard dropped substantially in the face of what he was seeing from his opponent.

"Ah, thank you. I appreciate your kindness; it's a rare thing to receive, as I understand." Hero responded, continuing his odd motions. "I will try my best. A child should never lose her father so needlessly, after all."

"Not a problem at all. Whenever you're ready," Scarza replied, just as serious as ever, but with an undertone of amusement over his opponent's little dance. ' _Wait a minute… I never told him Lily is a girl!'_ He thought, and immediately brought his guard back up. ' _Perhaps he's a mind-reader? No one else in the waiting area could possibly have heard me telling Yamcha that…'_

"Alright, that about does it for the warm-up; I'm limber and ready for action." Hero reported, still holding his rather goofy pose.

"Don't go too easy on him, Scarza!" Yulina called from their seats. "I know killing is illegal but not attacking at all will make you lose!"

"Alright, show me your moves." Scarza answered, his patience wearing thin.

Hero began running around rather slowly relative to the blinding speeds seen from earlier combatants, circling around Scarza several times before finally deciding to strike with a claw-fist swipe which Scarza dodged without even really trying. Hero overcommitted on the follow-through and fell on his face, landing a subtle kick directly to Scarza's no-longer-defended kidneys.

"And in a moment of pure slapstick," the announcer began his commentary, "Hero has lost his balance, accidentally kicking Scarza in the process! Who knew clumsy could be such an effective weapon?"

"GAH! …Good shot, there." Scarza complimented quietly as he analyzed what just happened. ' _Now I get it… if that kick was accidental Bardock was the Super Saiyan of Legend. This guy lowers his enemy's guard with the guise of a buffoon, and strikes out from beneath that ruse. A clever tactic, indeed.'_ "With moves like that one, who knows what you'll do?"

"Ah yes, thank you, I mean, sorry, I mean…" the goofball challenger stammered, while the audience continued laughing. "Oh I'm embarrassed."

"And your ruse is working quite well with even my protégé and wife…" Scarza continued, only loudly enough that Hero could hear, earning him a shocked stare. "The Mask of the Buffoon, is a unique tactic indeed… what's your game here? You'll be fighting the green one next if I lose." Scarza flew into a flurry of fists, intentionally missing as Hero to disguise the conversation. "I highly doubt your guise will hold up against him."

"So, you saw through it already, then?" Hero asked, still maintaining the appearance of an idiot frightened and flailing against Scarza's relatively vicious onslaught. "You really ARE a skilled warrior. I'm sure you haven't even showed a single percent of your real strength to this crowd."

"I see I'm not the only perceptive one here." Scarza retorted, sweeping Hero's leg and causing him to roll comically backwards to the wall. This was followed up by a leaping kick, visibly intent on simply knocking Hero out of the ring. Hero stood up a little later than the Saiyan predicted, however, and the two of them landed in a heap on the edge of the ring, earning still more laugher from all in attendance.

"And both fighters are down, however, we'll forgo the countdown as the fighters are both still conscious and allow them to recover. Who would have expected poor Scarza to fall victim to the whims of fortune a second time?"

"Okay, I've played your game long enough, just tell me who you are and why you think you can beat Ma Jr. Satisfy me with your answer and I'll 'fall' out of the ring." Scarza bargained, feigning an injury to the male-specific area as a cover for staying down so long.

"You've even seen through that much, then?" 'Hero' asked. "Fine then… my name is long forgotten, so I use my title instead. I am Kami, and I've been training Goku for the past three years. I can defeat the Last Son of Piccolo because I am his father's other half, his good half, the man you see is but a simple father I've possessed to remain hidden. If Junior is killed, I will die alongside him, and with me gone, the Dragon Balls will be rendered useless, with no way of restoring them. I intend to capture Junior with the technique that locked away his father ages ago."

"…Very well. If you fail, Kakarot will be able to finish the job, for sure. And if he cannot do it alone, I will aid him." Scarza mentioned, and rolled over off the arena and out of bounds.

"Thank you, sir, I know not who this Kakarot you speak of is, but your assistance is most appreciated." Kami said, rolling away from the edge and standing up, before returning to his louder public persona. "Oh, my head… Hey, are you okay down there?"

"Oh my, it would appear the pain caused in that last collision was so intense as to disorient Scarza Diclaiya and cause him to forget where the fighters had fallen in the ring!" The announcer cried, "He has rolled the wrong way in an attempt to get up, and landed out of bounds! As Hero remained in the ring, he is the winner of the match!"

Scarza stood, apparently shaking some cobwebs loose, "Yeah, Hero, I'm fine. Best of luck against Junior next round." The Saiyan then took to the air and sat next to his family once more to watch the continuing battles.

"Okay, spill it, Scarza," Yulina demanded. "There's no way you were disoriented and forgot where you landed from an impact _that_ light! When we met you'd fallen from orbit and still had enough sense to knock Kimeka out in a matter of seconds!"

"She has a point, you know," Kimeka added. "Is it about the green guy and Goku?"

"Got it in one," Scarza confirmed, picking up his daughter. "Let's go get something to eat. The next match won't end before we get back." Little Lillith's stomach growled loudly, proclaiming her agreement for her.

"Yeah, good idea, it's a grudge match. Goku and that Tien guy will probably be at it for a while," Kimeka answered, giggling. "Plus I'm a bit peckish myself."

Yulina simply shook her head in amusement, "sometimes I worry about how much you two eat. All that training and fighting really works up an appetite, I guess. I'm fine, but Lily's a growing girl, so go ahead without me. I'll fill you in on whatever you miss."

"Thanks dear, you're the best." Scarza kissed Yulina goodbye and the three went to concessions to eat. What they didn't expect was for a certain aged hermit to be there waiting.

* * *

"Hey there young man," Roshi began, "So you lost too, I see. Oh well. I have a feeling Goku will make it all the way this time." He then looked down and met Lillith's cuious gaze from behind his hat. "Bit of a shame this little one won't see her daddy or big sister be the big winners, but that's how the world goes."

"I'm not her sister, you old perv, and I'm not even thirteen yet." Kimeka cut off the old, lecherous turtle hermit, lying about her age with incredible practiced ease.

"Ah, so the suspicions of the fellows behind me were true then. You're one of those new superhuman mutant girls; a Diclonius…" the hermit ventured. But he was surprised when the girl was completely relaxed about the revelation that men from the Institute were here looking for her. "I must say, the abilities you must possess in that case are very concerning, considering your race's reputation…"

The grown girl just laughed, "Please, sir, I'm not a threat to anyone anymore. Scarza, cover Lily's ears, she doesn't need to hear this rant I'm about to go off on." The girl's father did just that with only his left arm and chest, his free hand feeding her to keep her from complaining. "The 'reputation' you heard about is basically the end result of psychological torture inflicted upon us when we're young. It's not our natural instincts, but a psychotic break. Usually it happens when we're already stressed out from puberty, because my kind grows to adulthood in roughly half the time regular humans do, and the majority of incidents involve four to seven year olds. Sometimes even younger than that! Go ahead and guess Lillith's age, right now."

Roshi adjusted his sunglasses and looked over the young child chewing on baby carrots. "Er… well, let's see… going on the human standards, her body is saying she's seven years old. But her behavior is more like that of…"

"She's two." Scarza interrupted him. "She was conceived on Piccolo Day and born February 17th the next year."

"Thank you Scarza," Kimeka continued. "So yeah, we're already preparing a panic room for her mother to hide in next year. Kids are tough enough to handle when they go on an adventures of fantasy fun, right? Imagine dealing with a girl. On her first couple of visits from a _certain_ dreaded Aunt. With 4 or more invisible arms that can cut through _tank armor_ effortlessly. Now imagine dealing with that girl after she's been beaten up, stabbed with pointy things, shot with cannons, and generally tortured for all the time she's been aware of herself in the name of science!" Here she bit into a piece of steak held in one of her vectors, with a face not dissimilar to that of a hungry wolf. "I've been hearing 'the Voice of My Instincts', as they call it, since the day before I met Yulina. I lied about my age, but the rest of this is all true. I'm the oldest living Diclonius at twenty-four years. I met her when I was Lillith's age, and she was seven. Thanks to Yulina's uncanny ability to snap me out of the rages, I managed not to murder anyone until I was thirteen, the day Scarza here made the crater outside Gingertown. It's actually telling me to kill everyone in this stadium right this moment, but thanks to a little training, I've mastered a little trick of Scarza's that gives me free and total control of my own mind. It's almost like the mute button on a TV remote. I know the bitch is screaming at the top of her imaginary lungs, but I can't hear it. To drive the point further home, I didn't even use my vectors once this entire tournament." A deep breath followed her raving rant about the true nature of how Diclonii go berserk, and no more was the face of pure anger; replaced with the previous cheerful girl watching over a niece. "Does that answer your questions?"(1)

"Uh… y-yes, it does. I'm sorry if I've caused you any discomfort, miss." The old master stammered out, amazed slightly by the girl's iron grip on her own emotions. "I best be getting back to my seat now, I hear the next round is going to start once the ring is fully repaired, and I'd hate to miss how much Goku has grown since his training with Kami began..."

Scarza spoke up at the mention of Goku's name, "Ah, so you're Goku's original master then? After the tournament, there are some things about him I need to talk with his friends about." Scarza made sure his daughter's tail was visible to the old hermit, so as to communicate the reason without actually saying it.

"Ah, I'll do my best to inform the others," Roshi nodded sagely. That girl's tail could only mean one thing about her father. "Do you have a venue planned, or can we take the talk to my island for privacy?"

The Saiyan laughed as he released his child's ears, "You give me too much credit, old man. I told Yamcha and Krillin to meet here already. If you're okay letting the four of us come to your place, then sure, we can do that. Be sure to tell your students. Say goodbye to the nice man, Lillith."

"Bye bye mister~" The child spoke as instructed, giving Roshi a stiff hug with her vectors while drinking from a sippy-cup with her physical arms. "It was nice meeting you." She finished before running after her father who had already started back to their seats.

"Don't worry about the vectors, gramps." Kimeka assured him. "You won't get infected with the virus unless they touch your skin, and she's been taught to only hug like that by touching the clothes. And thank you for patiently listening to my rant… it's been building for a while." Here she noticed Roshi was still stiff as a board, a pained expression on his face. "Are you okay? She hug you too tight?"

"Ehehehe… 'Fraid so, you wouldn't happen to be a chiropractor too, would you?" the old perv asked.

"Actually, yes, though I'm not licensed yet if that's okay with you," Kimeka admitted. "I still have a couple of classes to take at East Community College."

"Yes, yes, just come over and help me." A string of drool started its way down the lecher's mouth, Kimeka's bust reflecting in his glasses. The Diclonius girl then surprised him and turning him upside-down by his legs from 3 meters away, careful not to penetrate his pants with 2 of her vectors. She then vigorously shook the turtle hermit and stretched his spine back into alignment with the other two pulling on his arms. "Well, that is certainly a novel way to fix a back, young lady. Much appreciated."

"You thought I'd have to get closer into your grope range, didn't you?" the girl deadpanned. "There were perverts among the researchers at the facility, old man. I know the signs from seeing the older girls in the room across from mine getting that treatment. Next time, try asking nicely instead of being a trickster about it… I might just let you." She winked at him. "Speaking of attraction… can you give something to that hunk Yamcha for me?"(2)

"Er… well, I guess I could. Depends on what it is, really." Roshi replied, dumbstruck that this young woman not only saw through his ruse so easily, but also would have allowed him to do so had he been honest about it. At the same time he was horrified how easily Kimeka could talk about witnessing the abuse of other girls her senior. ' _Just how common an occurrence could that have been if she sees it as_ _normal_ _?_ 'He thought to himself. A dirty old pervert he may be, but the turtle hermit would never take things as far as Kimeka had implied seeing. ' _Yes… I'm beginning to see through the veil of deception those facilities have draped on the world's perception of her race._ '

"Oh, nothing special… just this," Kimeka giggled as she handed Roshi a sealed letter, a lipstick smooch and perfume on the closed envelope. "And to serve as payment for your services…" she leaned down and gave the old geezer a quick kiss on the cheek. "I believe you wanted something along the lines of that?"

"Hehe, read me like a book, cutiepie. I'll make sure he gets it. Now, we should get to our seats. The match is surely under way already." With that, the two returned to their respective seats.

* * *

Kimeka looked shocked at the scene they had returned to witness. "The hell? Yulie, what on Earth did I miss? I see no Goku, and four Tiens!"

" _Tai-yo KEN!_ " Goku's voice cried out from above just as a blinding light erupted all over the skies above the stadium. "The first weakness, is that your eyesight is a little _too_ good, Tien." He elaborated as he began to pummel the blinded group of triclops.

"It seems that Goku has caused a brilliant light to shine down from on high, blinding not only Tien Shinhan but also anyone in the theater not fortunate enough to be wearing sunglasses!" The announcer, who was wearing said dark eyewear, explained to everyone who was not.

"Okay Yulina, you were right, as usual," Scarza acknowledged his wife's forethought, putting a pair of shades on his own face and Lillith's. "The gift shop WAS a good idea during intermission." He then handed a pair to Kimeka.

"So what? You can't see either!" Tien retorted.

"Not so," Goku countered. "The two behind me are gearing up for a left-handed claw-fist and a right-legged roundhouse."

"You guessed! There's no way you could have known that!" Tien yelled as he continued his futile blind assault.

"Maybe, but I also know your technique's second weakness is…" Goku paused as he rapidly took out each of the four Tiens, stacking them up outside the arena. "…you made the first one worse by splitting up into four!"

Tien's copies faded and returned their ki construct bodies to the original's reserves, and then he slowly stood up to look Goku in the eye. "Ugh… you've improved a lot, Goku. I truly thought I was the only master of the _Taiyo-ken_ technique, best of luck in the finals." With that, both fighters returned to the waiting area to watch as Hero and Junior stepped out onto the battleground. An intense staredown followed.

"Why the serious look, old man?" the caped combatant asked. "Don't fear, I won't hurt you for long, you'll be dead before you know it. I want Goku."

All this earned from the Kami-possessed man on the other side of the ring was a smile and short chuckle. "So, is that the extent of your plan? 'Destroy Goku; rule the world?' Your vision is as lackluster as your flawed heritage… _Piccolo._ " The last word was practically spat, as if even uttering it left the Guardian of the Earth with a foul taste in his mouth, though it earned a shocked grunt from the green fighter. "So pathetic; you were always the weaker half."

"Hey wh- what do you mean?!" Piccolo yelled at the still unknown foe before him. "Who are you?!"

"I know ALL about you!" Hero yelled back.

"It looks like they're having an argument," Bulma and Kimeka narrated at the exact same time to their respective spectator groups.

"Yes… I definitely sense some tension." Master Roshi replied to the blue-haired girl, while the Diclaiya group remained silent, watching the battle as it unfolded.

Hero made a grandiose show of getting into position, and let out a powerful Kiai as he thrusted his index and middle fingers skyward upon crossed arms. The resulting upsurge of ki-laced winds sent Piccolo Jr. flying directly skyward, and the entire audience all needed to brace against one another or the separating wall. Only Scarza, who was holding Yulina in place, and the 2 Diclonii with him were totally unaffected; though Kimeka and Lillith were using their vectors to hold onto the wall and Scarza's legs, respectively.

Piccolo flipped to right himself as the winds ceased, rage boiling on his face with great intensity, and Hero took to the skies as well to pursue when the green demon did not return to the ring. "Tell me! _WHO ARE YOU!?_ " Piccolo demanded as he fired off a Demon Explosive Wave at Hero. Hero evaded at the last second with a roll, and the blast continued onward to the nearby sea. The resulting explosion was so large that droplets fell on the audience inside the stadium, a full 5 kilometers away. While Hero was distracted by the fallout, Piccolo capitalized and delivered a fierce double ax-handle strike; sending Hero careening to the ground where he landed ready to counterattack. Junior had anticipated his landing, however, and appeared suddenly behind him, lashing with a claw strike. Hero easily dodged with a leap and delivered a powerful knee-drop to the back of Piccolo's head, driving the evil half of his possessor underground through the ring with sheer force. Piccolo quickly resurfaced and landed at a distance, looking none the worse for wear.

"If you're having trouble seeing, ladies and gentlemen, don't be alarmed, it's not your eyes! These two seem to be moving with super-human speed!" The announcer cried out as a staredown occurred once more between the fighters.

"Daddy?" Lillith asked, finally feeling it was safe to release her father's leg. "Why didn't Mr. Hero fight that hard against you?"

The girl's father just knelt down and patted her head. "Because I'm not his mortal enemy, sweetie. Had he gone all-out like this, I would have been hard-pressed to defeat him."

"No way, nobody's stronger than my daddy!" The little girl sniffled and hugged Scarza tightly. "You just got dizzy from the landing and rolled the wrong way!"

Scarza knew it wouldn't do for her to believe that, only to be truly defeated in front of her eyes when someone stronger eventually showed up. "I'm afraid there really are people who are that strong, sweetie." He explained calmly while hugging her back. "We're watching a fight between two of them, that will decide who goes on to face a third. I know it's a scary thought, that somebody could outfight your daddy… but no matter how strong any one person is, there is always someone out there who is better." He then picked the little pinkling up and placed her up on his shoulders for a better view. "Watch closely, Lily. These two are about to begin again."

Just as Scarza said this, Hero performed another series of wild gestures and flung himself at Piccolo with renewed ferocity, landing a blow to the green warrior's abdomen before he could react. Piccolo recovered easily with a backflip and Hero continued the chase. The two traded a brief flurry of blows, ending with Piccolo catching Hero's leg after a flying kick attempt. "Time… for you to say…" Piccolo spoke in short, strained bursts, "GOODBYE!" before throwing the man across the ring and following up with yet another Demon Explosive Wave, this one angled such that if Hero dodged, a large swath of the crowd would be obliterated. Seeing he had no other option, Hero expended great effort to deflect the energy bomb skyward.

"Hero's strength is astounding!" Roshi analyzed the move he had just seen.

"How is it possible for _any_ human to do what he just did?" Bulma asked nobody in particular, before finally noticing the newly elevated hot pink monkey tail waving about from Scarza's shoulder's in the audience partition directly where the blast would have landed. Despite the doubts he had he could take the two fighters on, both he and Kimeka had seen fit to leap in front of the blast and shield the audience as best they could, thankfully it was unnecessary.

Again the two fighters stared each other down. "Oh really? Disguised as a human, eh?" Piccolo said out of nowhere.

"[Reading minds is dirty business, Piccolo.]"Hero spoke in a strange unknown tongue (3).

"Huh!" Piccolo gasped and began to speak back at him in the same unintelligible language. "[You! Did you really think you could fool me with that fragile disguise? Your hand has been played, and you've been unmasked.]"

The whole crowd fell silent at this. "I don't get it," Kimeka complained, "I can't make heads or tails of any of that!"

"You aren't the only one, Kimeka." Scarza, explained. "They're speaking in their native tongue. The only ones that can understand this conversation are those speaking… or at least so they think."

"Grr… [What do you think you're doing here, KAMI?!]" Piccolo yelled in outrage.

Kami smirked, "My visit should come as no surprise to you, but then again you were always a little slow."

"[You know our fates are intertwined. You won't do anything to hurt me.]" Piccolo issued.

"[I've come here to stop you! One way or another!]" Kami shot back

"Both Hero and Junior are speaking a similar language," the ring announcer called out for the audience. "And though it is unlike anything we have ever heard, the meaning is clear: These two fighters are out to GET one-another… I think."

"One thing's for sure, whatever they're saying they don't want us to know about it." Master Roshi commented, looking not at the fight, but at Scarza's grin of understanding.

"Where's a translator when you need one?" Bulma asked nobody in particular while pushing Lillith's highly visible tail to the back of her mind for later review.

"What are they saying, daddy?" said child asked her father. "You're the only one that can tell us, right?"

"I can get the gist of it alright, Lily… the announcer guessed right. Kimeka, did you or Yulina bring my scouter with you?"

"Got it right here, Scarza," The older girl informed him as she handed the device over. "Power cell and everything. Why?"

Scarza just put on the device and pressed the button 4 times. "There's a translator module programmed in that can convert between any languages in the galaxy."

Piccolo at that moment laughed as malevolently as ever, "[You're bluffing! There's nothing you can do to stop me and you know it! Did you really think you could come here and talk me out of my quest? I was born to rule everything including this backwards planet!]"

"[Your skills have improved, but you're as deluded as ever.]" now it was Kami's turn to laugh, both fighters unaware that Scarza was now hearing everything in their conversation perfectly clearly. "[You're right; whatever befalls you happens to me… and I'm just fine with that.]"

"GUH!" Piccolo shouted back in shock, "[You're insane! You'd commit suicide!?]"

Kimeka looked askance of Scarza for a translation, not realizing the look on his face behind the scouter was one of shock, and not pensiveness. "C'mon Scarz, it's not fair only you get to hear that. What'd he say? Why is Junior so freaked out?"

"Kimeka, " Scarza said quietly, writing something down on a the back of a tournament bracket handout that Kami's initial wind burst had blown loose. "Use your vectors and put this note in the hands of Tien Shinhan by the ring entrance. I know he's within your range, even from here. Read it if you must, but you won't understand what it means."

Kimeka huffed, and read the note. True to his word, she didn't know what relevance this 'Kami' person had to the situation, and she sent along as instructed. "Message delivered, Scarza."

"[Your concern is touching, but unnecessary.]" Kami spoke once more, digging into Hero's shirt pocket. "[The humans showed me a way to get rid of you, _without_ harming myself…]"

"Whaa? [What are you… going to do?]" Piccolo asked, incredibly anxious in the face of the unknown.

"Hero has an ace up his sleeve." Scarza relayed. "A trump card that will put Piccolo away without the negative consequences inherent to just killing him. And I have a feeling we're about to find out just what it is."

Kami pulled out and uncorked a bottle, placing it upon the ground, prompting the announcer to narrate further. "Hero has revealed a bottle and placed it on the ground! It doesn't register as a weapon, so the match will continue. However, he may be attempting to cast a spell on his adversary, look out!"

' _Scarza, I know you can hear this. I need you to take your child and young Kimeka to the back of the crowd. I sense this technique is effective against all of you, and it is still rather volatile in my hands. I would rather not imprison one or all of you three with a misfire.'_ Kami instructed via telepathy. "[…You ready for your new home?]" Kami asked as Piccolo looked down at the bottle, immediately noticing the Mafuba seal scribed upon it. _'Be swift, I'll only get one shot and don't need your worry dividing my focus.'_

'… _Alright, Kami, But I hope you'll join me and the rest of Goku's friends at Kame House later on. I'd rather only speak my history once.'_ Scarza replied with his mind, at the same time he spoke aloud, acting as if he recognized the technique and shouted for all in the crowd to hear while easily carrying Kimeka back to their official seats with Yulina. "Everyone stay clear of the line of fire on both ends! That's one of the most powerful techniques on the planet!"

"NO! NOT THAT!" Piccolo cried out in the common language, instantly recognizing the Mafuba from his father's memories of imprisonment.

"EVIL CONTAINMENT WAVE!" Kami shouted out as the technique began to shine forth in the air between the combatants.

"He's using the same technique Master Mutaito used to lock up _King_ Piccolo!" Yamcha shouted from the ring entrance, where he stood with Goku, Krillin, Chi-chi and Tien. All of whom struggled against the wind pressure the wave generated.

The announcer continued doing his job as best he could. "It's anyone's guess as to what's going on here, but one thing is clear: the light unleashed by Hero has begun to enshroud Junior!"

"Hahaha… you've sealed your fate, KAMI." Piccolo laughed as the entrapping stream of energy neared. "That looks fun, can I play? Evil Containment Wave, REVERSE!" Defying all logic, Piccolo then grabbed the energy stream meant to capture him, and flung it back at Kami. Without a defense like the one that sent the wave back to him in the first place, Hero's body was sucked into the vortex.

"You tricked me! If I am to be imprisoned, then so be it, but I will not condemn this body to my fate!" Kami shouted from within the sealing spell's pull. "Go now, I release you!" And at that moment the aged Namekian flung Hero's body from the vortex, revealing his true self to all those who could manage to pierce the veil of the technique's light with their eyes, and was pulled closer to the bottle without him. "You may have defeated me, but you won't win! It's up to you, Goku! Destroy him, DESTROY HIM!" and he was gone, slammed into the bottle, with Piccolo sealing it with the cork.

' _What will you do now, boy?'_ Piccolo monologued within his own mind, glaring at a stunned Goku who could only gape in awe of what he had just witnessed. _'The Evil Containment Wave was the ONLY thing that could have stopped me, and it FAILED. Nothing will stand in my way, this world is MINE!'_

"Kimeka, are you and Lillith alright? Kami was worried that something like that might happen and entrap us with him because of certain… traits we share." Scarza asked worriedly for the two Diclonii he sheltered behind the wall.

"Ungh, you mean your rampant murders prior to your planet exploding, and mine in self-defense, right? I don't think those sins would transfer to Lily just from her being your child and a Diclonius spawned of my vectors." Kimeka answered. "But yeah, we're both fine." Kimeka then stood up from her position kneeling as a shield over the small child, letting her stand back up. "What happened, exactly?"

"Piccolo sealed Kami by reversing the only known effective technique usable to finish him." came Master Roshi's voice as he and Bulma approached. "Perhaps we should move that meeting to the intermission between the Semifinals and the Final bout?"

"No, Goku needs to focus if he's going to win… it has to be after Piccolo is defeated. What I have to reveal will throw him too off-balance," Scarza explained. "If you can get that fiancée of his to drag him to the snack bar and 'fuel up', I can tell the rest of you in the intermission time. I'd really rather only tell it once, however. What I can tell you now is that I personally knew his parents, and worked with his mother. He takes after his father a lot… especially the hero part."

"So being the big hero is in his blood, is it?" Piccolo inquired, swallowing Kami's bottle as he floated down behind Scarza. "I find that quite interesting. Tell me, who is this father and where is he right now?"

"Heh, his name was Bardock. And you'll be meeting him in the next world once Goku finishes with you," Scarza answered. "He died facing a much larger threat than you could ever hope to become, while your dad was still trapped in that rice cooker. Or are you also capable of detonating a planet ten times larger than this one without a second breath?"

"Heh, I guess we'll find out in the match…" The reincarnation of pure evil said ominously as he rose and returned to the now-repaired ring. "and once I'm done with him, I'm coming after YOU next."

* * *

The battle that followed was nothing short of godlike in the eyes of the crowd. The initial exchange of blows was so fast and precise that nobody in the entire stadium outside the two fighters could track the blurs that were their limbs, ending with a severe uppercut by Piccolo Jr. sending Goku flying to the edge of the ring. When the Demon Emperor reborn tried to capitalize from behind, the teenaged Saiyan met him with an elbow strike to the nose. Afterwards, both warriors vanished from sight with sheer speed alone, reappearing several minutes later from above, each in a ready position to continue further.

"Looks like an even match," Roshi commented from the entryway where he now stood with Goku fighter friends and the Diclaiyas. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes," Scarza agreed, "He's actually surpassed me while I was busy aiding the girls with their problems. I'm actually having flashbacks to his father's final assault on our ultimate foe… or at least what little of it I could see from the launching station."

Piccolo then launched his stretching arm technique, only to be evaded and grabbed by Goku for a throw skyward. When Piccolo recovered and stopped midair, Goku sent a pressure wave to punch him from afar and leapt into the air, only to be met with a full-force energy bomb to the face, followed by an insurance blast on the way back down.

"Their powers are almost equal." Kimeka chimed in, looking at the fight through the scouter. "This fight will likely come down to who has more skill and stamina…"

Scarza then shoved everyone aside as Piccolo launched a large salvo of blasts. "Get down!" he yelled as debris began sailing entirely over the crowd. At the end of the blast, Goku lay still at the center of a huge hole in the ring floor.

"It appears Goku is down for the count!" The announcer rang out once the dust had cleared. And he began to count.

"Goku!" Chi-chi exclaimed seeing her fiancé lying prone.

"Please, girl. Goku is much tougher than that. Piccolo could probably drop a building on his head and not get the job done. Our people are very tenacious." Scarza scolded the lovestruck female, restraining her one-handed from entering the ring and disqualifying Goku. "Look." Sure enough, the orange-clad fighter was up and on his feet moments later, laughing as if it were a funny joke, and tearing the singed remains of his shirt away.

A long tense staredown followed, though those sensitive to ki could tell a clash of titanic powers was building, and when it did, the fighters began exchanging strikes with even greater speeds than ever before. The exchange ended in a locked-arm grapple, each fighter trying to overpower the other, and Goku narrowly ducking an eyebeam blast from Piccolo, which he then countered with a headbutt. The green man then used his stretchable arms to slam his adversary and attempt to throw him, but Goku countered by flipping down Piccolo's extended arms and smashing his bare feet into his green face, then going invisible once more.

The announcer filled the quiet of the lull with his voice as usual. "Whoa! After an amazing attack, Goku has vanished again!"

"Goku's disappeared without a trace. Junior won't stand a chance if Goku can keep him guessing…" Roshi stated, watching intently for any sign of his pupil's reemergence from the aether.

"You mean you can't see Goku's path as he goes, old man? I won't spoil the surprise but the strike should come any moment now…" Scarza said, watching just as closely. Just as he said, Goku faded in to strike, but Piccolo struck back with lightning speed, landing an elbow-strike to the skull and launching Goku into the wall, destroying it. "I'll admit… that was an impressive counter."

Krillin stepped forward to examine the wreckage. "Goku… he's…. gone again!"

Piccolo picked this up and uttered a surprised "Where?" just as Goku reappeared directly behind him in midair.

"Right here!" The hero of Earth retorted before delivering a heavy kick to Junior's head. He then followed with a gut punch the instant Piccolo turned to try and retaliate, opening another flurry of fists that ended with a kick that sent the green fighter flying towards the edge of the arena.

Piccolo easily recovered and launched himself into the sky for a reprieve. "That was one big mistake human!" he bellowed.

"Yeah! Heard that one before!" was the reply.

"Until now I've tolerated your insolent behavior, but no longer! Now, you must pay! You just sealed the fate of your race!" and the mad embodiment of darkness began to gather power for a two-handed blast aimed directly for the stadium as a whole.

A look of horror etched itself onto Goku's face as he immediately understood Piccolo's plan. "Everyone!" he shouted to contestants and audience members alike, "Get down!"

Scarza then wasted no time getting to Yulina's side and lifting her bodily form her chair, and returning to the relative safety of the dividing wall. "Sorry about this dear, but that attack's area of effect would be wide enough to get you there. Stay behind me, it's safer, and you'll have a better view here."

"Watch as your precious people are crushed under the weight of my blast!" Piccolo cackled as his charging energy cannon began to emit an audible sound.

"Leave them alone! It's me you want!" Goku cried back. "Get down here you coward!" Seeing his foe had no intention of doing so, Goku leapt into the air, drawing the blast away from the crowd.

"Come on! Look into the eyes of your killer!" Piccolo shouted as he adjusted his aim, firing well above the stadium and off to the mountains on the horizon. The resulting blast was so large that the mountain where it struck was no more than a crater, dust, and wind once the light had dimmed.

"…If Goku hadn't drawn his fire, we'd all be dust right now…" Master Roshi proclaimed.

"I don't feel so good…" Krillin informed the old hermit.

"Suck it up, baldy." Kimeka ordered while smacking him on the head. "That blast was probably nothing compared to some of the things Scarza here has seen or done. Right, Scarza?" She was shocked to see the man she believed in so firmly looking in awe just as the rest of them. "Scarza?"

"Kimeka… you're right, he wasn't anywhere close to the planetbusters I've seen used… but I've never been capable of such a thing." He then handed his young child off to his wife. "Yulina. Take Lillith and go home. I won't have you two so close to something this dangerous… Kimeka and I should be fine, but despite her Saiyan heritage I don't think she's ready to be around a power of this caliber, and you don't even have a mastery of flight yet."

Yulina just shrugged it off and placed her daughter back on the ground. "I appreciate your concern, honey, but if we leave then the next one of those might hit us outside. I think we'll be safest here in the stadium where you and Goku can protect us."

In the brief period occupied by that conversation, Goku had spun back toward Earth and fired a small energy pulse, propelling himself to the ring with the recoil. "This has gone WAY too far!" Earth's greatest hope declared.

"Ha! That was but a mere glimpse of my power. I can destroy you at any time that I wish!" Piccolo retorted, confident in his complete superiority.

"Fine! Here's a surprise from me to you:" Goku issued, "Super Kamehameha!"

"What?" Piccolo and Scarza both uttered at the same time.

"A Super Kameha-what-ha?" Kimeka asked the Turtle School students present.

"It is the signature attack of all Turtle School students," Master Roshi explained. "A Kamehameha is formed when cupped hands are drawn to the user's side and _ki_ is concentrated into a single point, then thrust forward to unleash a massive beam of destructive energy. Using it in a tournament setting like this is not to be done lightly… as it is incredibly likely a weaker target will be completely destroyed… then again, Junior appears to have opened the door to that realm of force with glee using that mountain-breaker."

Scarza just nodded. "I recall him using one against King Piccolo as a means of propulsion. Goku just said he created a stronger, 'super' version… this should be interesting."

Goku's ki selected that moment to become visible, and also blindingly bright, as the supercharged energy wave continued to gather force behind it. "Goku, don't do it!" Roshi cried out, causing Goku to release the charge and look askance of his aged teacher. "Think about it. If you unleash that blast, you'll destroy not only Junior, but Kami too."

"HAHAHAHA!" Piccolo laughed as Goku broke his pose. "Fool, I bet at times like this you wish YOU were the bad guy! I'm unstoppable, anything you do to me will happen to Kami as well! I've already won this battle!"

Scarza then spoke up, "Goku! Do it anyway!" Everyone looked shocked at the older Saiyan's command. "Or did you forget Kami's final words before being sealed? He'd rather be destroyed than let Piccolo's reign resume again! Besides, I can tell Junior would only be injured by what you charged before, not killed. He's far too powerful for just that!"

As this was happening, Piccolo continued an unheard rant about being superior and able to lay waste to all of humanity with ease. "Now witness your destruction!" He decreed as his arms began to glow with golden destructive ki once again, followed by his entire body.

"Also, that wave of yours will have its impact cushioned by his own blast if you're still unsure! Use it to counter his!" Scarza rattled on, but as a complete unknown to Goku at this point, there was very little character for Goku to judge his trustworthiness upon.

"Wait… the Dragon Balls!" Krillin muttered. "GOKU! BLAST AWAY! THIS GUY IS RIGHT, YOU CAN KILL KAMI!" This time the shocked looks were directed to the shaven fighter. "Even if you destroy Junior we can still bring back Kami with the Dragon Balls! Restore his life, like you did for me!"

Scarza nodded his assent to Krillin's plan. "Exactly what I was thinking, Krillin." _'At least, that's what he wants you to think until the deed is done. However...'_ "Let 'er rip, Goku! No worries! Kami told me that much himself when I fought him in the quarterfinals!" _'If Kakarot doesn't buy it and go all-out, we're doomed.'_

"Go ahead! Super Kamehameha that creep all you want to!" Krillin pushed once more.

"Ah! Yeah, right! Why didn't I think of that? _"_ Goku rhetorically asked. "Alright, time for a Kamehameha, Super-style. Thanks, you two."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Piccolo asked as his attack finished charging. "You need the Eternal Dragon to grant your wish for you, and he was destroyed three years ago!" On the last syllable, the demon reborn emphasized his point with the launch of his energy cannon.

"You're right, Junior… but the Dragon was resurrected!" Goku shot back, and launched his own Super Kamehameha with a mighty battlecry. The beams clashed, and eventually Junior's attack was overcome, and he fell victim to the remaining power in Goku's wave. The explosive shockwave from the impact demolished parts of the stadium and sent onlookers from all sides flying back.

"Ha! He won!" Yamcha announced upon seeing no trace of Junior on the ground.

Master Roshi then followed the gaze of the Diclaiyas to the sky. "No, look up." And there, still floating and his face the very definition of rage, was Junior. Half of his shirt destroyed, and his hat absolutely nowhere to be seen.

"YOU'VE FAILED!" Piccolo shouted down as the smoke finally cleared around him. "You thought your simple parlor tricks could defeat me, but as you can see, I'm still here!"

"WE HAVE EYES YOU GREEN ASSHOLE!" Scarza yelled out from the sidelines. "NOW HOW ABOUT YOU STOP FLOATING ABOUT UP THERE AND LAND SO THE FIGHT CAN CONTINUE BEFORE YOUR BULLSHIT CONVINCES THE TOURNAMENT OFFICIALS TO ADD AN ALTITUDE LIMIT TO THE RULES!?" Piccolo opted to land without a further word, as several officials, and half of the audience nodded in agreement with the sentiment.

The head of the tournament committee opted to speak up at this. "I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Diclaiya's outburst, though his choice of words leaves much to be desired. This flying technique of Ma Jr.'s has the potential to ruin several good matches in the future as more contestants acquire the skill and leave their opponent's with no method of attack but harsh words. I hereby move to add a new rule limiting the continual time a single combatant can remain at rest while airborne to one hundred and twenty seconds, maximum, before being declared out of bounds. This new rule shall only apply when one combatant is unable to use the technique or anything similar to enable the battle to continue. All on the committee in favor?"

"Aye!" came a unanimous decision.

"INCREDIBLE!" The announcer began narrating yet again. "For only the second time in tournament history, a match has resulted in a new rule being instated by the committee, before it has even concluded. Interestingly enough, the first time also involved Son Goku, and his use of a magical cloud to return to the ring after being thrown miles away! Just like back then, the rule is not applied retroactively, meaning this bout will continue! Goku has launched an extraordinary attack that was nothing short of spectacular, but be it by incredible luck or inhuman stamina, Junior has survived! And he doesn't seem happy!"

Piccolo landed, and glared hot death at not only Goku, but Scarza as well. "Well tick tock… I'm waiting. Impress me. After I've destroyed Goku, I'll be coming after you, Diclaiya!"

* * *

Silence fell over the entire arena, now that Junior had lowered himself to a range where the layfolk could clearly see his now exposed antennae and overall appearance. Murmuring ran through the croud like a stiff ominous breeze.

"What… if they recognize him?" Tien stammered, reading the tension in the air as if a book.

"Then things will get a whole lot worse…" Yamcha answered.

"Please, you two. Things will get WORSE if the crowd flees in a panic leaving Goku with fewer distractions?" Kimeka chimed in, glaring at the two of them from the side. "Honestly if none of them gets it in the next ten seconds I'm going to scream it out so they'll run. This has gone far beyond the bounds of the tournament. It's a battle for the fate of our planet!"

"You know…" Launch spoke aloud from her seat, "that looks like King Piccolo." With that prompt, the crowd's muttering grew louder and they all looked closer for themselves.

"Silence you worms!" Piccolo barked at them all when the noise became too much to ignore. "I **am** King Piccolo, reincarnated!" and his declaration sent waves of dread and panic flowing freely throughout the stadium. "Let it be known throughout the world: once I've disposed of Goku, I will be your King, once again! Not only has King Piccolo been reborn, but his reign of terror as well!" This little speech was more than enough to set the majority of the audience into a frenzied, panicking flight for their lives. The only ones to remain were the announcer, Goku's friends, and the Diclaiya family. "Playtime is over, no more distractions."

Goku turned to Bulma, Launch, Oolong, and Puar at their spots in the crowd. "Go, all of you, I can't do this if you're still in danger."

"Okay." Bulma nodded, not quite sure what was going on, entirely.

"Sorry, looks like ya lost yer audience." The blonde Launch told the announcer as they pushed passed him to join the others in the backstage ringside area.

"Goku, leave!" Krillin begged his dark haired best friend as the woman arrived.

"No, I have to finish this." Goku declined, and turned to face Piccolo once more. "Forget about destroying this world, I won't let it happen!"

"Go for it, Goku!" Scarza called out. "We'll all be fine! Between your friends, Kimeka, and myself, we should be able to stop any stray blasts that head this way. You just focus on winning this fight."

"Why don't you all reserve passing judgment until _after_ you've seen my latest technique?" Piccolo asked. "It's a  real showstopper!" The earth then began to shake as the rebirth of the evil King gathered his power once again, an updraft of damaged tiles picking up around him, some of which exploded from the proximity into smaller bits.

"He's… glowing. That can't be good." Tien muttered.

"Is it ever with this guy?" Kimeka quipped. "Also, he's not just glowing… he's _growing_ too."

Sure enough, the Namekian began to expand to the size of a three-story apartment complex. "Hah! From up here, you look very small."

"Incredible!" Goku said, in awe of the ability he had just seen. "How did you make your _clothes_ grow?"

"That's… actually a valid question." Scarza commented. "How DID he do that?"

Launch grabbed the announcer, the only member of the tournament staff that hadn't fled. "HEY! ISN'T THAT AGAINST THE RULES?!" She screamed in his face.

"No…" the meek microphone master managed. "I'm afraid there's no rule against getting bigger."

"We've left the rules a long time ago." Bulma reminded her, fear evident in her voice.

"Thank you! I'm glad someone else here has some sense!" Yulina cried out. "Wait… aren't you Bulma Briefs? It's an honor to meet the boss's daughter… though I wish it were under better circumstances."

"You can get cozy with your boss when we aren't about to die, Yulie." Kimeka uttered through her facepalm as the battle resumed.

Piccolo's every move wasn't slowed by his size in the least, and every miss sent more and more debris and wind in every direction. The green goliath was far from discouraged as Goku continued to dodge everything sent his way, and eventually landed a flathand strike sending the smaller warrior to the floor once more. As Piccolo approached, Tien could watch no longer and called out. "Goku! Let me help you!"

"No," was his reply. "I can't accept your help, not without forfeiting the match." All his friends could do was stare disbelieving at that.

"HAHAHAHAHA! You'll forfeit more than that without their help, filthy human!" Junior retorted. His confidence ever growing even as he himself was not.

"Your size doesn't intimidate me, and it won't help you!" Goku shouted to be heard from the distance.

"Really now?"

"Oh yeah!" and Goku leapt out of the way of Piccolo's intense wind attack, going behind the giant and striking at the rear of his knee, toppling him. The hero of earth then grabbed Piccolo by the index finger, which by itself was as large as Goku himself, and hurled the titanic terror, turning his newly increased weight into a weapon.

"Goku's training must have included a course on how to defy the laws of physics." Roshi speculated. When prompted by curious looks from all around him, the old master continued. "After expending a great deal of energy on his Kamehameha Wave, he managed to topple a giant!"

"You're right, master." Krillin replied. "He'll definitely do it."

"Not even leverage can account for that throw. You've got a point there, old man."

"YOU INSOLENT MAGGOT! You'll pay for that!" and Piccolo went on the offensive again with another flurry of physical blows. Goku still managed to evade every single one and climb, using the towering monster's limbs as platforms, to deliver a flying kick directly to Piccolo's eye. Goku wasted no time capitalizing on the momentary disabling of his foe, and leapt once more to deliver a skyborne uppercut, only to be countered by a piercing eye laser through his left knee from Picollo's other, unharmed orb.

The beam continued on unhindered directly for the crowd of onlookers gathered by the ring entry, all of whom ducked for cover; save Kimeka, who used all four of her vectors to catch the beam and hold it back, though she only succeeded in delaying it, as the beam was making steady progress towards them despite her. "One of you… a little help, please? I can't hold this forever…" she called back to the others. "I don't trust it not to take us all out with an explosion if it lands!"

Yamcha was the first to his feet, and fired a blast of his own to intercept the slowed beam, allowing Kimeka to release the effort of maintaining vectors that solid. "That was close… what on Earth did you do, pinkie?" He asked her, still unaware of her true nature.

"I'm a Diclonius, isn't it obvious?" She pointed to her horns. "I just caught it with my vectors… but making them that solid takes a lot of focus… thanks for the help, hot stuff." She flirted, drawing no small amount of jealous rage from Bulma.

Meanwhile, Goku was being crushed underfoot by Junior as the mammoth manslayer looked to finish his mortal foe off. It was almost a full minute before his re-emergence threw Piccolo's enlarged form once more across the length of the arena.

"Grrrr…. _I hate you_!" Piccolo glared from his landing zone.

Goku just smiled as he delivered his reply. "I told you your size doesn't matter. It won't help you win the match; all it does is make you a bigger target!"

"You think one lucky throw is an accomplishment?!" Piccolo asked as he stood and looked down menacingly.

"It was TWO throws, genius!" Scarza yelled. "Or did the first one get knocked out of your memory with that last impact!?"

"…Why do I get the feeling you're about to get taller?" Goku asked, not liking the look on his enemy's face. Piccolo then did exactly that, ending the expansion technique with his height roughly measuring 2 kilometers, if anyone were to bother trying to measure it.

"We're in trouble…" Tien muttered as the planet's shaking stopped once again.

"Goku! Come on! It's over!" Yamcha called out, earning a smack from Kimeka while Bulma just stared in horror with the rest of Goku's assembled friends.

" **Your friend is right!** " Piccolo called down, his voice booming. " **Goku! Where's your confidence, NOW?** "

"Heh, this is just what Goku was waiting for, you naïve fools." Scarza intoned. "Just watch. What he does now…"

"I've been waiting for this moment." Goku confirmed, not having heard Scarza say exactly that as he leapt over Junior's next stomp attack and fired himself down the giant's gullet and began assailing the inside of his throat along the way to his goal, eventually leading to Piccolo having to vomit him out.

"He's crazy!" Krillin shouted.

"No, it's his best chance to defeat him!" Tien and Scarza both responded at the same time.

"You're _all_ crazy!" Krillin shot back, not understanding nearly as fast.

"Tien!" Goku called as he threw something to the group. "Open it right now!"

"But this is…!" Tien exclaimed as he saw what he had just caught. "Right!"

"Quick! Kami is locked inside that bottle!" Roshi informed all who weren't aware. Tien then removed the sealing cork, freeing the Guardian of Earth.

"And now there are TWO Piccolos!" the ring announcer cried in terror.

"Am I the only one that's in the dark here? Hello?!" Bulma cried out. "How can there be TWO of that thing?"

"You _are_ Kami, aren't you?" The Turtle Hermit asked the aged Namek, who only nodded in response. "You chose an odd place to take a nap. You're free, Goku rescued you."

"Goku…?" Kami then looked to the ring, where Goku was giving a 'V for Victory' sign. "Ah, I see, so the effects of my wave were reversed on me…"

Piccolo managed to recover at that moment and returned to his normal proportions. "That's better, are you feeling small?" Goku taunted him.

"Shut your mouth!" Piccolo yelled in response.

"Calm down, the veins in your forehead are about to explode!" Goku continued, unperturbed by the foul malevolent hatred permeating the atmosphere near Piccolo. "You should try to relax." Piccolo then charged and Goku vanished along with him as the clash renewed once again.

"They're, gone!" Kami proclaimed. "Not even _I_ can see them!" Everyone looked on in awe at the empty arena, waiting for them to reappear, except for the two fighting members of the Diclaiya family, who stood still with their eyes closed in focus.

"Look up." Kimeka said suddenly, following her own advice to see the lightshow caused by two such tremendous ki signatures striking one another. The two warriors flashed into existence for an instant with every blow struck. Eventually slowing to the point the strikes could be counted, it was revealed the battle was dead even, neither gaining an upper hand over the other.

* * *

After several minutes of this stalemate, Goku was sent falling to Earth yet again dragging gasps of concern from his friends and allies. "Ka me ha me…" He uttered while regaining his posture through a somersault, finishing while upright. "HA!" The blast came from his feet like a jet engine's exhaust, launching Goku back to his foe's position at an absurd velocity, and enabling him to land a punch focusing all of that power into a single strike.

"What's he doing? No way! He used his feet for the wave! Incredible!" Came cries from various onlookers.

"An extraordinary maneuver only the most disciplined warriors can achieve." The wave's inventor explained. "But worth the effort as it frees one's hands for combat!"

Piccolo managed to right himself enough to aim an electrical strike towards Goku, inflicting just as much damage to the young Saiyan as had been dealt to him. He then shot forwards at a glide with amazing speed, ready to deliver a finishing blow just as Goku struck the floor. The human and Diclonius onlookers alike couldn't keep themselves from wrenching their eyes shut, unable to watch. Scarza began charging an energy wave to begin his turn at finishing the job, knowing Goku wouldn't accept any direct aid even to preserve his life; Saiyan pride wouldn't allow him to do so. Kami however, jumped in at the last moment and blocked the punch.

"You are too old and too weak to defeat me! You should have stayed in that bottle!" Piccolo snarled at his good half.

"You forget your place, Piccolo!" Kami admonished. "Goku, join me, together we will stop this fool."

Goku merely shook his head and yelled back to him, "No, Kami, don't interfere! You can't! The tournament's not over yet, he's still my opponent! I _can't_ win unless I defeat him _by myself_!"

"What are they talking about?!" Krillin asked anyone willing to answer. "The entire planet could be destroyed if Junior isn't defeated, what is there to discuss?!"

"Very little, I'm sure…" Roshi supplied. "A true warrior does not contemplate the fate of the world; only the strength of his enemy. For him, nothing exists beyond the battlefield. He only knows victory, or defeat."

"That's half of it, old Master." Scarza picked up. "The other half is that this battle has brought Kakarot's Saiyan blood to a seething boil. His pride won't allow him to accept any aid, nor will mine allow me to interfere in his battle, or I'd have jumped in long ago. Tournament rules or no, this battle is one Goku cannot win with outside assistance, even from the other, good half of Piccolo's soul."

"Hit me!" Goku shouted as he stepped out from behind said benevolent half. "I owe you a free punch."

"A free punch?" Piccolo asked, skeptical.

"Yeah, hit me to make up for the punch that Kami just blocked." Goku confirmed. "Tch, what are you waiting for? Hit me so we can continue the match!"

"Very well, if you insist on it!" Piccolo accepted as he sent Goku flying into the wall once again.

"…Sure glad there's a wall here…" the humanoid wrecking ball moaned with a grin.

"Only Goku could smile after that." Krillin lamented.

Roshi nodded agreement. "He's nothing if not honest."

Bulma then waved an arm in front of everyone there, asking "Um hello? Are we just going to ignore, that this guy said some guy named Kakarot was involved in all this? And that his blood is boiling, whatever that means?"

"Quiet down, girl." Scarza scolded the hotheaded bluehead, "Everything will be explained in time at Roshi's Island. Though I supposed I can answer for that slip. Kakarot is Goku's original name. One more outburst and I'll knock you out myself so we can continue this fight in peace. He isn't the only one getting excited by this challenging adversary. If you'll excuse me, I need to remove an intruder from the battleground." And he made his way out to collect Kami.

"Would you like a time out to catch your breath?" Piccolo mocked.

"No, but feel free if you're tired, I think your antennae are drooping. Hehehe…" Goku replied, the weariness of that last hit still audible in his tone.

"Now Goku, before we proceed, think this through very carefully." Kami advised. "If we act now we may stop him together, there may not be a second chance!"

"Thanks for your concern, but I've made my decision." Goku politely declined once more. "I have to defeat him alone. It's just something I _must_ do."

"Kami!" Tien called from the ringside, where the group had moved to avoid being struck by the next wall-penetrating impact. "I know you mean well, but Goku _is_ an accomplished fighter. He's saved the world more than once." Scarza at this point reached Kami, and waited for Kami to decide.

"When you are ready, I'll escort you to the spectator area, Kami, sir." The offworlder explained before turning to Goku. "Remember, kid. This punk is going for your life, not the championship. You wanna win? You have to do the same. If you fail, Tien and I will finish this for you; your other friends too, if they can keep up with us." He then grabbed Kami's hand and respectfully pulled him out of the ring.

"Who… are you?" Goku asked, confusion plain on his face. "You speak as if we've met before."

"Who I am is not important right now; I wouldn't expect you to remember someone you last saw when you were but a day old." Scarza waved off the question with his free hand. "Finish this fight, Kakarot. I'll give the answers you want after big, green, and stupid over there is beaten."

"Hehehe… Your friends are all so loyal, and foolish." Piccolo laughed, "A bunch of inept weaklings coming to the rescue of their idol; I love this!"

"Grr… I'll show you inept!" Yamcha shouted, barely held back from going over the wall by the women present.

"We'll show him, right?" Krillin asked Roshi.

"I hate to admit it, but Junior is correct." Roshi lamented. "Right now, Goku is the only one among us that can keep up with his tremendous speed."

Junior began laughing over his assumed victory "You idiots! It took you this long to realize my supremacy?!"

"Listen Goku," Kami began from his new location in the stands. "I still think you're making the wrong decision, going up against Junior by yourself is folly. But if you insist, follow young Scarza's advice, and do not stop until he is exterminated. I will fall as well, but you can resurrect me using the Dragon Balls."

"I won't fail." Goku reaffirmed once more. "Thank you for your confidence, Kami."

"I know what you're thinking Kami… that Goku gets more and more powerful with every battle." Scarza addressed the Guardian. "That's a trait of our people; of the Saiyan race. Every time we fight we gain strength based on how injured we became during the course of combat. Normally it is imperceptible, if we were out and out the winners without even a scratch, but upon recovering from the most grueling of injuries, our strength explodes exponentially. If Goku takes a near-lethal hit in this battle, and recovers, he'll be even more powerful than you can imagine. Possibly on-par with Raditz…"

* * *

"You really believe you'll win, don't you?" Piccolo asked. "Stop lying to yourself!"

"Your threats don't worry me. I've already seen your best technique."

"Not hardly, you haven't seen anything, yet!" Piccolo declared as he continued building his power. "Your arrogance is astounding, you really think you can beat me? Beat ME?"

"Yes." Goku stated plainly to answer Piccolo's question.

"FOOL! Are you simply so moronic, SO MORONIC that you can't possibly comprehend the impossible odds before you?! I am INFINITELY stronger than I was three years ago!" Piccolo screamed back at him, frustrated by the lack of terror he could feel from Goku.

"Three years is a long time, and _you're_ the fool if you think that I haven't changed as well." Goku countered.

"Grrrrrrrraaaah… BE QUIET!" Piccolo yelled at the top of his lungs while firing an energy cannon at Goku.

"Can't you come up with anything new?" Goku asked as he easily dodged the blast, which turned around in the empty air behind him.

"That was a tracking blast, Goku! Behind you, it's coming back!" Kimeka called out.

Goku turned around at that and saw the boomeranging shot just in time to dodge the comeback. "What? GAH!" After his second jump Goku kept his eyes on the blast, and saw that it would indeed follow him wherever he went. In response to the third close shave, the spikey-haired fighter launched a Kamehameha downwards to propel himself away, and hopefully gain some distance.

"It's no use running away! You'll never escape me!" Piccolo shouted after the retreating Goku, his overconfidence blinding him to the plan Goku was forming with the extended lead he now had on the blast. "You'll never escape!" Goku dropped straight down and began running towards Piccolo, the blast hot on his back but not quite able to make contact. At the last possible moment, Goku stopped dead inches from Piccolo, smiled, and vanished; leaving the shocked villain with no time to react and dodge his own attack.

"Great strategy, Goku!" Scarza called out, before explaining to the slower amongst the group. "What you just saw is the reason I've only ever launched an attack I can't stop myself once: To knock Kimeka unconscious when she was thirteen and stop her rampage. There is always the possibility an enemy will turn your own power against you. A lesson you learned the hard way earlier today, Kami." The smoke cleared as Scarza said this, revealing a heavily injured, bleeding Junior. "As did your other half."

"Give up, Junior." Goku ordered Piccolo. "You're wounded, you can't fight like that."

Piccolo only smirked and grabbed the dead arm with his good one, ripping it completely off and shocking everyone into stunned silence until he regrew a perfectly intact replacement. "Give up!" he returned an order of his own. "You can't hurt me, you can't stop my power! I am invincible… and you will be the first to witness my destiny!" He then grabbed both of his shoulders to brace against his own power, and began gathering an ungodly amount of ki.

"…There is no way on this, or any other world in the galaxy, that that much effort to gathering power is a good thing!" Scarza called out as Piccolo began glowing with bright golden flames.

"Does anyone here have an attack that can dig us a trench to hide in?!" Kimeka asked the Z Fighters assembled in the area. "It might be a good idea to use it!"

Goku noticed the amount of power Piccolo was building and turned to face them "They're right! Get down! It's not safe to stay here! Move it! If you can't dig a trench, get as far away from here as you possibly can!" The veins across Piccolo's entire body began to bulge from the strain of containing the power he was building.

"Wake up, you idiots!" Scarza yelled as he knocked Tien and Krillin's heads together. "Piccolo is about to use an explosive wave the likes of which you morons couldn't hope to imagine! I haven't seen this much power built into one place since my home planet was destroyed 20 years ago!"

"GO NOW!" Goku cried, "YOU HAVE TO GET OFF THIS ISLAND! I'LL HOLD HIM!"

"Goku, no! You can't stay here, you MUST come with us!" Kami begged. "I know how much the tournament means to you, but you have to turn away!"

Kimeka then lifted Kami by the cape and dragged him away from the wall. "With all due respect, give it up, Kami. He won't listen to you. His mind is made up, he's going to tank that blast whether it kills him or not!" At that moment a whirlwind kicked up, tearing what was left of the stadium to shreds to circle high above the heads of all around the battle as Junior's glowing aura intensified from fire to erratic lightning.

"This is it, take cover!" Goku called out to his friends and the Dicaliyas.

"I've got to save my friends! Scarza, give me a hand!" Tien and Scarza both took to the air at the same time.

"Sure thing, Tien! My family's in this pickle as well!" Scarza bellowed as he charged a cannon of his own. "Break Crusher!"

"Kikou-ho!" Tien shouted. The two blasts melding as one created a 15-foot deep square pit large enough for everyone. "Everyone take shelter in this hole, it's our only chance!"

"He's right!" Yulina screamed over the wind as she hurriedly carried her terrified child into the safe zone. "It won't do Goku any good if you all die!"

"Goku! Come on!" Krillin begged from inside after the whole group had piled in. "You've got to get out of there!"

"No." was all he replied.

"Idiot, you can't possibly fathom the power you're up against!" Piccolo spoke from beneath his golden glow. "If you had any brains you'd be on your knees, begging for mercy!"

"No way! Get ready to lose."

"Flee… Goku… now…" Kami kept muttering from within Kimeka's grasp.

"Come ON! Hello?! Anyone home?" Launch called out before climbing up and helping Kimeka drag Kami into the hole. "You're going to die if you don't get in the hole! Move!"

With Launch's help Kimeka managed to drag the Guardian and throw him bodily into the hole. "I know you're suicidal over your insane nephew, but get in there! We don't have time for your drama, Kami!" The pinkhead vented her frustrations audibly as she picked up Launch and jumped down in herself. "We're all clear, Goku! No worries!"

Piccolo couldn't help but laugh at the folly of the warrior before him. "Conceited punk… I'll enjoy breaking you…" and with that he released all the pent up power in a single mighty blast, destroying everything on the island that wasn't below ground and creating a shining light that would likely be visible from Jupiter. As the dust settled, Piccolo allowed himself a moment of quiet celebration. "I have won… Hahahaha…"

* * *

Slowly, Krillin climbed out from under the rubble that had piled into the hole atop those using it for shelter, and let out a terrified scream at what he beheld: nothingness. Junior's blast had leveled everything on Papaya Island from one shore to the other in all directions. The only identifiable feature remaining was the tournament ring, reduced as it was to a raised cube of rock among much more identical lower-elevation rock… and there, smoking from the intensity of what he had just endured and standing exactly where he had been before the blast, was Son Goku.

Piccolo looked down from his attack pose with absolute shock, as Goku lowered his guard pose and spoke. "Surprised to see me? You'll have to be stronger than that, Junior."

"You're… here, but, that's impossible! You should be dust!" Piccolo stammered in disbelief.

"It will take more than that to destroy Kakarot, you green bastard!" Scarza shouted as he too rose from the pit. "And with each failure, you only make him grow stronger!"

"He's alive, Goku's alive!" Krillin shouted down to the rest of the onlookers.

"It's a miracle…" Kami uttered.

"I'm very sorry for my rudeness and behavior before, Kami." Kimeka apologized, bowing so deeply as to have folded herself in half before helping the aged Namek out of the safe hole. "It was the panic of eminent death for us all combined with the stress of this entire day that made me act in such a way. I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me!"

"It is quite, alright, Kimeka dear." Kami pardoned the young girl with a pat on the head. "Very few could keep their heads as well as you did, and you have a lot more than more to worry about in crowds such as that, if I am not mistaken."

"Hah! Nobody beats good ol' Goku!" Bulma shouted as she too rose from the dust.

Piccolo staggered backwards, shock and awe of Goku's fortitude still not yet allowing him to register how it was possible the battle was not over. "Get over here!" Goku challenged, "If you're ready for more."

"No… no n-no! It's not fair…!" Piccolo muttered as the brave viewers who remained stood and cheered him on.

"Amazing, he took that blast head on and he doesn't even look singed! Unbelievable!" Tien praised.

"Even I must admit, for all my talk of the Saiyan people's power," Scarza admitted "The fact Goku appears unharmed from _that_ _last attack_ is beyond impressive."

"You've used every dirty trick in the book, but you can't get rid of me. I'm still here and I'm going to win." Goku issued once more. "Okay, it's time to finish this!" and with a massive kiai Goku glared down the still stunned Piccolo.

"Uh oh… I really think this is gonna hurt…" Piccolo said, fear now playing against him instead of as an ally.

"Hnhe… a lot!" Goku said as he took a stance and charged. Junior tried to block or counter but Goku was just too fast for the exhausted reborn tyrant. The assault was beyond brutal, each hit landing before the impact of the previous had fully registered with the physics of Junior's motion, and culminating in an uppercut to the gut that threatened to pierce through the other side as it launched Piccolo back. Before he could have a chance to recover, however, Goku leapt into the air and aimed yet another Super Kamehameha directly downwards to Junior's hobbled form.

"Incoming!" Krillin called, causing everyone to hit the floor or dive back into the safety hole. The blast that came immediately after was worthy of such a reaction. Where once there was Junior laying doubled over in pain, there was now a crater with a half-buried Junior lying unconscious.

"Hey!" Goku called as he landed. "Now might be a good time to start counting!"

"Oh, right, of course!" The ring announcer responded as he bounded from the hole and entered the remains of the ring. "Oh my… is he… it looks like, could he possibly be…?"

"No way, he's not that vulnerable." Goku responded.

"Besides!" Scarza called from the sidelines, pointing at Kami "Due to some mystical mumbo jumbo you probably won't understand, as long as big green and wrinkly here is standing, big green and stupid down there isn't dead! He's been saying as much all fucking day!" It had clearly been a trying day for the Saiyan, as until now, his family hadn't been backing away when he hurled verbal abuse at others before. "Now, would you start counting before he wakes up, or should we do it for you?!"

"Uh… oh sure… sorry. ONE!" the announcer finally began. "Two!" the ten-count continued unimpeded with the spectators joining in at six. However Junior sat up and fired a mouth blast completely through Goku's chest at the count of nine, leaving a bloody fist-sized hole behind and frightening everyone.

Goku screamed in agony and his friends all stared on in horror as he coughed blood and writhed about, before coming to a stop just as Piccolo emerged from his crater. Just as Piccolo began to laugh his triumph once more, Goku shifted slightly and grunted, prompting his foe to stop and comment once more. "Hanging on to the bitter end… How considerate!" The dark twisted shadow of Kami loomed menacingly above Goku. "Your time is up. End of game. You made a good run of it but now it's over…"

"That bastard!" Scarza yelled, charging another Break Crusher to finish the weakened Junior off. "I've already lost my chance to make good on my promise to Kakarot's father… I won't fail his mother as well! Everyone clear the way! The instant my blast is ready, I'm launching it at him, and if you're in the way you're going with him!"

No longer caring about anything outside the ring, Piccolo stepped even closer to Goku's prone shape. "For the crimes committed against King Piccolo, it is my honor to serve justice!" And he stomped repeatedly upon Goku's new viewing window, causing unending suffering and finally prompting his friends to disregard his wishes in the interest of preserving his life. "Back off!" The son of evil repelled them all easily with a blast powerful enough to carve a trench between the group. "This doesn't concern you. Stay out of it!"

"Call off the match! Do SOMETHING! There has to be something we can do to save him…" Chi-chi begged, falling to her knees with tears in her eyes.

Given the moment's reprieve Goku was able to find the strength to stand once more; amazing everyone present, though it was still not enough to stop Scarza from charging his blast. "It's a good thing you aim… as bad as you fight…" he jabbed. "You missed my vital organs."

"ALL OF THEM?!" Piccolo shouted in shock as Yulina poked her head above the bunker hole's edge.

"…If this is the same Goku Scarza hasn't shut up about since he landed here… that would be a yes." She assessed without climbing out any further. "He's had enough injuries that I needed to home doctor that I've gotten pretty familiar with Saiyan physiology. Clear through the right shoulder… just below the joint… yep, it's going to be painful as all hell until he's healed, but there's nothing important there in his body. Maybe a grazed rib if it's low enough, but I'm not going anywhere near this battle to check… Lillith needs her mother to stay alive for a while, thank you. I've seen what losing one does to a Diclonius…" she looked with sadness at Kimeka, who had once more calmed to her gentlest state, and hugged Lillith to comfort her. "I would be happy if Lily never needed to tap into _that_ monstrous power…"

"…You were supposed to die…" Piccolo muttered, utterly transfixed upon the leaking adversary before him.

"Glad to disappoint you…" Goku retorted, "Looks like the match isn't over… yet."

"Fine! But victory will still be mine!" Piccolo proclaimed.

"We'll see…" laughed Goku. Piccolo then made the first move, punching for Goku's wound, which was easily dodged and countered with a glancing uppercut. The demon prince then connected with a side kick that sent Goku flying back and to the ground. When he tried to get up, the window to his innards reminded him of its presence and prevented him from rising to his feet with any speed at all. His vision blurred from the pain.

"After all the hard work I've put into renovating this place…" Piccolo quipped, confident in his victory. "…the least you could do is stop _leaking on the floor_!" Piccolo then charged and delivered a fearsome elbow strike directly to Goku's hole, which he followed up with a spinning knee strike with enough force to break the wounded warrior's leg. "I'd just like to thank you… seeing you here lying in the dirt means more to me than you can possibly imagine." Piccolo began to monologue as he fired a continual beam into his nemesis's left shoulder. "My father lost much in his last battle, including his left arm! Allow me to extend you the same courtesy you gave him." He then cut off the beam while Goku had little more than a burn mark. "Alright I won't take your arm, but you get the idea. I've deprived you of the use of your body. And now Goku I will deprive you of your **LIFE**!" and he began to rise into the air dramatically.

"He's going to kill Goku!" Krillin cried out. "Hey! Saiyan guy, Scarza, was it? Now is your only chance! Hit Piccolo now or Goku is doomed!"

Scarza just looked at him, the effort of mustering his cannon showing. "I… can't… this won't be enough... I used too much power helping dig that hole… If only I'd trained harder while helping raise Ramea…" and he let his blast fade. "I'm sorry, everyone… I don't even have the power left to obliterate Kami… the easier route to our goal…" He punched the ground as the façade of his confidence shattered like the loose stone he had struck. "I've always been weak among my people… Break Crusher is my strongest blast, I created it three years ago on this planet, but I can't do it more than once a day. Damn it all… as I am now, Yamcha could probably defeat me…" He turned and looked into the sympathetic eyes of the girls he had befriended when he first arrived, who had come to his side just as he needed them most. "Kimeka, Yulina… I know I talked like I was some big destroyer of worlds… but I'm nothing compared to those around us right now… I still haven't surpassed Kazuni's power at twice her age of death… and I can't even fulfill a promise I made to a mother at her death knells to protect her newborn son!" The Saiyan lamented, as he returned the embrace his girls had offered him.(4)

* * *

Kami looked pensive for several moments and turned to face the triclops among them. "...Tien Shinhan, isn't it? You can save Goku if you kill me, as Scarza said… Junior will die as well."

"…Do it Tien… you're the best man for the job right now…" Scarza said, overhearing this through his own meltdown. "The only thing I was ever good for is saving Kimeka from herself… now that I've finished that… I'm as worthless as the dirt Kakarot is lying in…"

"There isn't much time." Kami declared as he watched Piccolo rise ever higher. "You must slay me before Junior's attack begins, Tien Shinhan… I cannot destroy myself! If you want to save Goku, this may be your only chance!"

"But… I can't…!" Tien strained.

"My demise does not need to be permanent!" Kami reminded them all. "Once Junior has vanished you can ask the Eternal Dragon to resuscitate me. There's no time to waste!" Tien looked at Goku's helpless form remaining where it was. " _Tien Shinhan!_ "

"Alright… I'll do it." Tien finally agreed, and prepared to strike down Kami.

"Don't do it!" Goku called from where he was through gritted teeth. "That's… it's not… necessary… I know I can win…"

"You can't even move, Goku! There's no way you can possibly fight back!" Krillin argued.

"Too late!" Tien declared as Piccolo's war cry rang out from above. Power gathering in his hand once again for a massive destructive energy wave.

"Relax and enjoy your death! You have nowhere else to go!" Piccolo cackled as his blast struck true, destroying most of what was left of the ring in yet another mushroom-cloud explosion. Junior returned to the earth and examined the smoking crater. There was no sign that Goku had been laying there left behind. "It's a shame you were obliterated! I would have liked _something_ to keep as a souvenir! HAHAHAHA I'VE WON! GOKU IS NO MORE! The world is now mine to do with what I will! A new age will soon dawn on the Earth! One marked by suffering, pain, and torment for all mankind!"

All the women present gathered around an understandably brokenhearted Chi-chi. "Go…ku… I never thought I'd be a widow before I was a bride!" She cried, turning into the consulate arms of Bulma, while Yulina stroked her hair, not sure what else to do.

"You're gonna pay for this!" Krillin choked out through gritted teeth.

"Goku deserved better than this…" Roshi replied as the remaining warriors assembled against their foe.

"You're not kidding… this guy's toast…" Scarza said as he stood, no longer in need of his family's supportive embrace. "I may have failed Gine's last wish… and let Goku die… BUT HE WON'T GO UNAVENGED, EVEN IF I DIE IN THE PROCESS!" He then caused an updraft of his own, the vigor of his power renewed by desperation and rage, he easily generated a charged blood red aura around his fists. "In his name, we will destroy you, Piccolo!"

"There's no need to grieve for your fallen comrade," Piccolo informed them. "You'll all be joining him in the afterlife shortly!"

"Wait a minute… no way." Scarza whispered and nudged Kimeka, who stood behind him with her vectors totally opaque. "Kimeka, above…"

"You're right… I'll tell the others." And she gently nudged the Z Warriors through their various states of dress, pointing upwards behind Piccolo using her once-more-invisible vectors.

"Isn't that…? Hey, Tien, up there!" Krillin cried out, prompting Piccolo to turn and investigate what could possibly bring joy back to their faces.

What he saw paralyzed him with shock and terror. "No! It can't be!"

In the sky above, on a direct course to impact Junior, was Goku, approaching terminal velocity for maximum damage. "Goku! Do it!" The group cheered as one.

"I told you I'd win!" Goku reminded everyone as he landed his final skull smash attack dead-center to Junior's torso, sending the devilspawn flying back several meters. "Is it far enough?" He asked the announcer. "Is he outside… the ring?"

"Er… well there's not much left…" The announcer stammered, still beyond petrified by the battle he had just witnessed.

"Can you tell? Have I won?" Goku asked again, his tone making it obvious that was the last attack he could perform.

"Oh, for the love of all that is holy!" Yulina screamed at the announcer, having had more than enough suspense for one day. "Announcer guy! Do you even have eyes?! The ring is that raised stone block Goku is bleeding out on, and Junior is off it! Make the damn call so we can all _go home_!"

"Um, okay… it appears Junior is out of bounds! Therefore the winner of the twenty-third World Martial Arts Tournament is Son Goku!" The announcer declared, and with the rules of the tournament no longer holding them back, everyone remaining on the sidelines jumped over Piccolo's trench and ran up to assist Goku in both celebrating his victory, and not dying from his wounds. All, that is, except little Lillith, who curiously poked at a strangely round pile of rubble, before poking through with a vector and lifting Yajirobe out by his hair.

"Yaaaoh! Easy on the hair, kid! Geeze!" Yajirobe blinked and looked around at the demolished landscape. "Uh… Is it safe to come out now?"

"You've won," Chi-chi acknowledged for Goku. "How do you feel?"

"Well, my body's numb, and my head is pounding… but other than that I feel great."Goku laughed it off.

"You guys got plans for Junior? I'm hungry." The tubby samurai asked as he too approached. "Also, would someone mind claiming the kid?" He turned and revealed a cheery Lillith Diclaiya helping herself to a piggyback ride.

"Mommy, Daddy! Auntie Kimmie!" She cried out and ran over to those named, giggling. "I found the funny man playing Ostrich~"

"She's ours." Yulina told him, "Thank you for bringing her over, sir. And no, we don't have plans for him. Why?"

"He wants to eat him, dear, if his 'I'm hungry' comment has any meaning." Scarza clarified.

"Uh? But, Yajirobe, what about your beans?" Goku asked, still prone on the ground.

"Beans, shmeans! I need some _real_ food!" Yajirobe explained, reaching for the bag on his waist. "You want beans? You can have beans, here, take it. Have a bean buffet!"

"Oh… Thank you…" Goku moaned his gratitude and began to chew the Senzu Bean. As soon as he swallowed it, his chest hole closed up before everyone's eyes, his broken leg realigned, and he immediately did a quintuple backflip landing in a handstand, before jumping into the sky and proclaiming to all and sundry, "WOO HOO! I did it! I've won! YES! I am the Champion! HAHA! YEAH!"

"What… the hell… did you just feed him, er… Yajirobe, was it?" Kimeka asked.

"It's a Senzu bean," Krillin supplied. "A single one is enough to keep a man fed for three days, but I didn't know they healed you as well."

"Well, I still can't understand why they taste like fish." Yajirobe added.

Scarza just nodded. "I don't know if you all can sense it or not, but Goku's power just increased almost twenty times over."

* * *

"NO, KAMI!" Goku suddenly shouted from above as the others were distracted by the explanation of Korin's miraculous beans, dropping into a sharp drop.

"No more…" The ancient Guardian of Earth murmured as he made to strike down his evil half, only to be stopped as Goku landed in between them. "Get out of my way." He ordered.

"No!" The World's Savior refused. "First tell me what you're planning to do." He demanded, drawing everyone's attention to the area.

"He's still alive!" Kami pointed out. "Don't you understand the danger he poses?! This world will never be safe until he stops breathing! Pure evil can never be tamed."

"With all due respect to your position Kami, sir," Scarza began as he joined Goku's side between the two Namekians. "Shut the hell up. Goku's strength was on par with Juniors through the entire match today. But now that he has healed from what was almost certainly a critical injury, they are no longer even. Goku's power has risen several orders of magnitude beyond that of Piccolo, his Saiyan blood makes damned sure of that. Piccolo would have to do a LOT of work to match this warrior."

Goku looked confused for a moment at what Scarza had said, then shrugged it off as to be explained after this was finished. "But if he dies, you'll go with him. There has to be another option besides destroying him."

Kami straightened from his usual slouch and glared at the two Saiyans. "I've already told you, multiple times, that destroying me won't matter! You can ask the Eternal Dragon to bring me back again!"

Now Tien stepped up. "Trust him, you two. His plan will work."

"But you're _Kami_." Goku argued once again. "Are you capable of telling a lie?"

"What?" Kami and Scarza both asked.

"The Eternal Dragon was created by Kami, right?" Goku explained, Kami looking down in acknowledgement he'd been caught. "So, it is safe to assume that if Kami is destroyed, the Dragon Balls will disappear as well, correct?"

"WHAT'S THAT?" Tien yelled in shock, as the assembled team just looked at Piccolo and/or Kami in awe of what Goku had managed to put together before any of them.

"We'd not heard of that part of the legend." Yulina remarked. "Only that the Dragon would grant a wish to whosoever summoned him forth with the seven balls collected."

Kami stepped away from Junior and looked up at the sky. "Sometimes… even _I_ can make a mistake." Everyone looked on, curious where this was heading. "I created this monster and now he has grown strong enough as to surpass even me, plunging the world into chaos! I've lost more than power, I've lost my perspective. I no longer deserve to govern this or any other world…"

"How can you say such things," asked Master Roshi, "when it was you who brought our world peace again? If not for your training, Goku would never have attained the level of skill he has now. Junior would have won, and if the Dragon Balls hadn't been forged, none of these young warriors would have ever met. And I can't begin to count the number of people who owe their lives to these kids. When their quest began, they were just children, and they soon grew into heroes. When the world needed saving, eight kids answered the call. One ball, that's how it all began."

Kami smiled and looked out among those the turtle hermit had referred to, as well as the four new additions added by this most recent threat. "Goku, you are fortunate to have had such an excellent teacher."

"Mhm," Goku nodded, "No one is as wise, or as goofy!"

Kami then approached Goku and repaired his clothing with Magic Materialization. "Wear the symbol of the Turtle with pride, and never forget where you came from."

"I will, thank you." Goku tightened his belt and turned. "Yo, Yajirobe! Can I have another Senzu bean?"

"Er, if you keep eating like this you're gonna get fat." The samurai remarked as he tossed the requested bean. "Here."

"Thanks!" Goku said, as he caught it and, shocking everyone, gave the bean to Piccolo. "Here, eat up!"

"Stop!" "Goku, what are you doing?!" "Are you crazy, we don't wanna wake him up!" Roshi, Kami, and Yajirobe cried in sequence.

Piccolo chose that moment to awaken and jump to his feet, backing to a ready pose. "That just great, maybe you two can become best friends?!" Yamcha commented sarcastically.

"Okay, I know you aren't that freaking dense, so there's some reason for this, Goku." Scarza said, clearly just as upset at this move as the rest of those in attendance. "Care to tell us what it was?"

"My reason for helping you is simple," Goku explained his actions while conversing with the monster. "If I destroyed you, Kami would suffer as well. Besides, without a rival to fight I wouldn't have much to do. You seem to fit that role nicely."

Piccolo chuckled at this. "You're a moron if you think this changes anything between you and I. Mercy is a loathsome trait and you will soon learn that I have no such weakness! When that glorious day arrives the whole world will be mine." Junor then rose into the air and flew out of sight. "I'll see you again real soon, and until then I'll see you in your nightmares!"

' _I've beaten you once… I'll do it again.'_ Goku thought to himself, seeing no need to say it aloud to a foe no longer in earshot. "So… Scarza, was it?"

"Yes?" the named fighter answered, having moved not an inch since Goku healed his greatest adversary. "If you're looking for explanations of my behavior. I've already arranged to deliver it on your master's island, while we celebrate your latest achievement. The name Kakarot is also on the agenda for that discussion if it's about the times I slipped and used that name."

* * *

 _ **A/N: Chapter 2, Events in Dragon Ball: Complete. The in-universe info dump on the Saiyan race comes to the Z-Warriors at the beginning of Chapter 3.**_

 _ **Holy hell Goku vs Piccolo Jr is a talkative battle! Here's my reference video's YouTube ID, see for yourself! iiGxWlmnS2E I'd have cut the fight out to make it be all of Chapter 3, but then this one was too short.**_

 _ **Lillith's Saiyan name, Ramea, is based on Arame (**_ _ **荒布**_ _ **, Eisenia bicyclis, Ecklonia bicyclis), or sea oak.**_

 _ **Also, you've reached the end of my laziness allowance. The OCs have too major an impact on events from this moment onward to do the "verbatim transcription of the anime" thing anymore.**_

 _ **Numbered Footnotes:**_

 _ **1) There is no concrete evidence one way or the other regarding why Diclonii hear the "DNA Voice" in their heads telling them to exterminate humanity, as there are none with happy lives shown in the Elfen Lied manga. The closest we get is #7, Nana, and she started showing signs of hearing it the moment Bando broke her spirit for five seconds, but never once during her happy times at Kaede House. Kimeka's explanation here is just my interpretation based on what we're shown. Every attack on humans shown, in both the manga and the anime, was in defense of self or others.  
**_

 _ **2) Yes, Kimeka x Yamcha is a thing that's happening. I honestly think he's not given enough credit for his absolute strength level due to how useless he became through relative strength. Out of pity, I'm giving him a girlfriend that can keep pace with a Super Saiyan 1 when she's pissed off beyond reason. Maybe not win, but I have little doubt a Diclonius in full rage mode would at least put up a decent fight. Things will pick up with them when we reach the Z era, since that entire time has Bulma and Yamcha broken up over something I can't remember.  
**_

 _ **3) They are speaking Namekian.  
**_

 _ **4) Scarza's breakdown here might seem a little out of nowhere, but it's been building for over twenty years at this point in-universe. He'll be explaining it to the girls on a car ride to Roshi's isle in Chapter 3.**_


End file.
